Ask a person why they want to run for president of the United States, and you're likely to get some answers that sound simultaneously cliched and nuanced. Some will tell you that it's a calling -- sometimes quite literally, thanks to the proliferation of "Draft So-and-so" websites. Others do so out of a sense of duty to one's country, or the desire to contribute. It's safe to say that some candidates simply have the kind of political career where taking that next step just seems logical. And perhaps the honest answer is: "To get access to new levels of wealth and acclaim that I can put to personal use."
One answer you're not likely to hear is, "Well, I have complicated emotions about Mitt Romney, and I thought that running for president would be a good way of really sticking it to that jerkwad." But that's being floated today in Politico as a primary motivation behind Mike Huckabee's quest for the White House. So let's get emo, shall we?
As Huckabee weighs whether to run again, several Republicans with ties to Huckabee say his disdain for Romney is a real factor in his decision-making about whether to mount a second campaign for the White House.
Ed Rollins, a national GOP strategist who ran Huckabee's 2008 effort, recalled the "personal animosity" that the former Arkansas governor felt for Romney, citing the rawness over the negative campaign Romney ran as Huckabee started surging as the dark horse with no money or national establishment support in Iowa in January 2008.
Oh, wow, that's just a terrible and beyond-the-pale thing to have done in Iowa: campaign negatively against someone you were competing with for votes. I can totally see how that lingering resentment might fester into a full-blown run for president, years later.
As you might expect, this has all been just as swiftly shot down by the Huckabee camp:
Hogan Gidley, the executive director of HuckPAC, strongly denied that that Huckabee is driven by any score-settling with Romney.
"Only someone who knows precious little about running for president would put forth the ludicrous notion that a person would go through the rigors of running for president due to some personal grudge," he said. "That's beyond absurd -- it's idiotic."
Yes, well, I'd caution that when it comes to providing a fertile landscape for all manner of absurd and idiotic things, there's nothing quite like the presidential campaign season. Still, it's important to remember that if anything, people who back Huckabee are, of late, actually questioning whether he's motivated to run for president. I doubt they'd have those concerns if Huckabee was authentically driven by old Romney grudges that burn like a black light deep in his soul, urging him on to revenge.
Naturally, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Huckabee isn't a big Romney fan. I suspect that Romney fans are pretty few and far between in the field of elite GOP figures who flirt with White House ambitions. I still remember how much John McCain seemed to relish his artful takedowns of Romney in their debates together. And I suspect that Huckabee's capable of doing the same, all while coming across as sweet as honeysuckle.
However, it's safe to say that having the opportunity to stick it to Mitt Romney is a side benefit of running for president, and not a reason unto itself.
RELATED:
Huckabee throws a Mitt fit [Politico]
[Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here.]