I think that Mike Huckabee damaged himself by staying in the race for the last few weeks. Had he bailed out for the good of the party after giving John McCain a scare in Virginia on February 12, he would have made some friends, got at least a day of press out of it, and exited on a high note. Instead, by dragging it out, he became the punchline of jokes and left with a whimper. With that said, Huckabee ran a strong campaign on a shoestring budget, shook up the party, and emerged as an important –perhaps now the most prominent– evangelical political leader. Overall, his campaign has to be seen as a smashing success.
