Just as Mr. Reagan came back to fight another day with his effective message of hope and conservative ideas, I believe Mike Huckabee’s presence on the American political stage is not over. It’s just beginning.  His approach is the best hope for conservatives and Republicans in the future.

As this political year continues to unfold, and with any hint of drama on the part of the GOP not likely for months, I certainly hope wise Republicans will find a way to make room for Mr. Huckabee at the party table. He needs to be a featured speaker at the convention in September. This is a very important thing – you may remember that it was a speech at the 2004 Democratic convention that provided a relatively unknown politician named Barack Obama the spring board to what he is up to these days.

And Mike Huckabee needs to play a part in crafting the party platform. Though some regard such a process and document as irrelevant, Ronald Reagan reminded us, in those 1976 off the cuff remarks in Kansas City that:

“There are cynics who say that a party platform is something that no one bothers to read and it doesn’t amount to much. Whether it is different this time than it has ever been before, I believe the Republican Party has a platform that is a banner of bold, unmistakable colors, with no pastel shades.”

Finally, the former Governor of Arkansas who ran such an effective campaign with little infrastructure, should be seriously considered for the Vice Presidential slot on the GOP ticket. If he did so well with so little, imagine how well he’d do with the money and machinery of the party behind him?

Frankly, if the number two place on a major party ticket is basically about balance, I would suggest that the balance Mr. McCain needs is to have someone who is a proven and effective communicator on the campaign trail.  Mike Huckabee fits the bill perfectly.

Oh, and there is one more thing Reagan said that night thirty-two years ago, he quoted “a great general” (read: Douglas MacArthur) with the line: “There is no substitute for victory.” And if the Republicans are to win in November, Mike Huckabee needs to be on the field and in the game.