One of Mike Huckabee's goals was to have the second highest number of delegates on the Republicans side.  Why was this important to him?  Presumably, when Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee clash in 2012 -- or whenever -- it would allow him to basically say,

"I got the 'silver medal' in 2004 -- not you."

... Huckabee was almost there, too.  He only needed 19 more delegates to overtake Romney. 

Aside from the obvious point that these delegates going to McCain make Huckabee's chances even more minuscule than they were before, does anyone think it was a coincidence that Mitt Romney released his delegates before Huckabee could overtake him in the delegate count?