Winners and Losers: 2010 election impact on 2012 candidates

[Mr. Morden]

Winner: Haley Barbour

Loser: Mike Huckabee

Under Barbour's watch at the RGA, the GOP picked up quite a few governorships.  Barbour helped the cause by using his power as a human ATM to raise massive amounts of $ for the RGA, which then made its way to critical states.

Huckabee endorsed Vander Plaats, Bauer, and McCollum in the GOP gubernatorial primaries in IA, SC, and FL respectively (three key early primary states), who all ended up losing.  So he's already on the bad side of Branstad, Haley, and Scott.  Which wouldn't have mattered in 2012 if that trio of candidates had gone on to lose the general election.  But they all won.  Even Scott, who was a 50/50 proposition to pull it out, going into election day.  To make matters worse, a Scott campaign staffer alleged that Huckabee was shopping his endorsement for $.  I don't think those two are going to make up any time soon.