Huh? Palin and Huckabee are already taking votes from each other and he's in third place.
The only way he benefits from Palin and Huckabee taking votes from each other is if he's leading, not trailing both of them.
In the event that one of them doesn't run, he'd lose this state quite easily when McCain was able to keep defeats to Huckabee in Deep South states by under 5 points and North Carolina isn't a deep south state.
It's pretty clear that either palin or huckabee would win NC by double digits against Romney.
I am assuming that Huckabee and Palin are both vying for Christian Conservatives and far-right in the Deep South, and I will use Tennessee and South Carolina to display why I think you should be worried that Romney is basically within striking distance of Palin and Huckabee. Huckabee never competed in Virginia and North Carolina, so I can’t use those states as examples of what I’m talking about. His campaign was basically over after February 4.
Huckabee received 30% of the vote in the South Carolina primary. He lost because Fred Thompson took away lots of vote from him. The Far-right Christian Republican vote was split between the two and this allowed McCain to beat Huckabee by a mere 15,000 votes. McCain’s victory in New Hampshire also helped him bring together the moderate Republicans in South Carolina. In addition, there were many voters who were split between Mitt Romney and Huckabee in South Carolina. Many experts on CNN and Fox commented on this.
Huckabee won in Tennessee with 34% of the vote, but it was only a slight victory against McCain. Again, many experts commented that Huckabee and Romney had lost a few states that night because they were taking votes away from each other. Voters saw them as more religious and far-right than McCain. Romney received 23% of the vote.
McCain was a moderate who would have had a difficult time beating Huckabee, Thompson and Romney if they hadn’t split the vote. Huckabee, Thompson and Romney accounted for over 60% in South Carolina and 60% in Tennessee. Had the Christian and far-right vote been able to decide on a candidate after New Hampshire, McCain probably wouldn’t have won South Carolina, which basically launched his campaign to victory.
Palin and Huckabee might split up the vote in states like Iowa and South Carolina. They won’t win in New Hampshire or Nevada. This puts them at risk of losing to Romney in all four states. Add Thune to the equation and this North Carolina poll might have looked closer. It’s just something to think about. I know you like both Huckabee and Palin, but I think they’re at risk if both of them run. JMHO