Defying party regulars, Huckabee kept his vow to hang in there till the cows came home; which they did on the night of March 4 when Arizona Senator John McCain secured enough delegates to win the nomination.

But Huckabee hung in there, garnering more than 3 million votes along the way; most, if not all, from conservative Christian evangelical voters.

Why, to paraphrase The Supremes, did he "keep on hanging on?"  

For one thing, by staying in the race, Huckabee nudged McCain a bit further to the right on social issues; perhaps he should share credit (blame) for McCain's ill-fated decision to accept the endorsement of the multi-bigoted rhetorical flame-thrower, Pastor John Hagee.

And, while still campaigning, Huckabee raised more money, built a nation-wide donor base and mail list, attracted volunteers for possible future electoral bid or other endeavors, and snared a fair amount of free television time.

All that, and he got to hang around Chuck Norris ... and his wife.

Huckabee may also have been trying to demonstrate that his drawing power should garner him consideration on the short list of vice presidential possibilities.

Heading up twenty-first century Christian conservatism?

But Huckabee may have larger more long-term ambitions in mind than merely becoming vice president. In fact, he may be motivated enough to turn all his capital into building a political organization that would represent twenty-first century conservative Christian evangelicals.

Building organizations out of failed political campaigns is nothing new. An entire movement was forged on the heels of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater's overwhelming defeat in the 1964 presidential election.  Richard Viguerie, who became the king of conservative direct mail and influenced a generation of conservative politicians, reportedly got his start after Goldwater's defeat by going to Capitol Hill and hand-copying a list of 12,000 individual contributors to the senator's campaign.

In 1989, a year after his failed bid for the Republican Party's presidential nomination, the Reverend Pat Robertson founded the Christian Coalition. Robertson converted a campaign mailing list into the most influential and technologically sophisticated grassroots political force on the right. With Robertson at the helm and the politically savvy Ralph Reed as executive director, donations poured in, membership soared, conservative politicians showed up in droves at the Coalition's annual "Road to Victory" conferences, and the organization became key players on GOP electoral victories for the better part of the next decade.

According to the Washington Times, Huckabee's "inner circle" is telling him that he's the right man to get a conservative Christian evangelical movement that is stuck in neutral, moving forward again.    

TalktoAction readers and contributors would likely agree with the assessment of T2A co-founder Fred Clarkson -- and others who appear on its pages -- that while the Christian Right may be down, it certainly isn't out. Even should Republican Party presidential nominee Sen. John McCain be handily defeated this fall, the Right will continue to play a significant political role.

As Clarkson recently wrote, "Win or lose in Texas, he [Huckabee] is emerging as a likely leader for the future as the religious right reinvents itself":

The simple fact is this: The religious right will be a major factor in politics in America for the lives of everyone reading this post. It will change over time, and have ups and downs, like everything else. But all of the evidence shows a vibrant movement that has not died, but institutionalized. But which continues to show plenty of political and electoral oomph, even as the movement reinvents itself as the founding generation of leaders passes from the scene.

"He has become the leader of a new generation of Christian conservative voters," Rex Nelson, who was communications director when Mr. Huckabee was Arkansas' governor, told the newspaper. "The old leadership has either passed on in the case of [the Rev. Jerry] Falwell or become either irrelevant or out of touch -- the Pat Robertson endorsement of Rudy Giuliani proves that."

"He now has become the voice and face of conservative America. Whether it's conservatism or Christian conservatism, I think the options now are wide open for him to decide how does he want to take advantage in the right way," said former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley, an early Huckabee supporter.

The Washington Times reported that "several" of Huckabee's "close advisers, speaking on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss possibilities, said he does not have an interest in a Cabinet position or in running for the U.S. Senate from Arkansas, but said being on a ticket as vice president would be an attractive alternative. One adviser mentioned a role as Republican National Committee chairman, while another said he might be best suited for a role outside the party."

It will be months yet before we know if it's Obama time, or Hillary time or even McCain time, but it may be now or never for the hustling Huckabee of Arkansas to seize the time.  

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