No, No, No

There is nothing that could possibly be any worse for the Republican brand than this:

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Sunday he'd like to be John McCain's running mate.

"There's no one I would rather be on a ticket with than John McCain," said Huckabee, who was a stronger than expected challenger against McCain for the Republican presidential nomination. "All during the campaign when I was his rival, not a running mate, there was no one who was more complimentary of him publicly and privately. ... I still wanted to win, but if I couldn't, John McCain was always the guy I would have supported and have now supported.

I'm glad that Huckabee wants to be a team player and all, but there is no possible scenario in which the presence of Huckabee on the ticket enhances McCain's chances in November. There is a pretty widespread consensus that McCain needs to put a conservative on the ticket to balance on his more moderate credentials. Having Huckabee on the ticket gives the party two big-government Republicans on the ticket, and that is something which could make the doom and gloom scenarios surrounding Bob Barr's candidacy prophetic.

Huckabee, though, would probably do best to suspend his campaign for the 2012 or 2016 nomination that he seems to be running right now...