Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has been criticized by members of the Republican Party and media analysts for not throwing in the towel.

Speculators have compared his strategy to former President Ronald Reagan, who refused to step down in a heated 1976 nomination battle against incumbent Gerald Ford.

Reagan took Ford, the eventual nominee, all the way to the Republican National Convention, earning street cred at every Republican primary along the way.

When the next presidential election came around, Reagan was remembered for being in the previous race to the end. He was the clear favorite throughout the nomination process, winning the candidacy with 1,939 delegates, far ahead of his nearest rival who had only 37 delegates.

Huckabee has admitted he did not major in math. Instead, he jokes that he did major in miracles. This leads me to believe he minored in history, setting up a potential presidential run in 2012.

If the Democrats win the White House in November and we see another McCain/Huckabee showdown in 2012, McCain is in trouble. The last time a candidate lost a general election and won the following nomination, the year was 1956, and Adlai Stevenson lost again to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower.