Friday, November 30, 2007

Huckabee Surges in Iowa

Apparently that Chuck Norris endorsement did the trick.

From the LA Times:

DES MOINES — With 34 days remaining, the Republican presidential race in Iowa has broken wide open, as Mike Huckabee surges into contention with the longtime front-runner, Mitt Romney.

Polls show the two former governors running nearly even in Iowa, which will cast the first votes of the 2008 campaign, despite Huckabee's meager resources and the large amounts of time and TV advertising that Romney has lavished on the state. Earlier this month, surveys had Huckabee trailing Romney by double digits.

Huckabee's strong showing, one of the biggest surprises of the presidential race, is threatening the foundation of Romney's candidacy and has shaken up the GOP contest across the country.

On Thursday, Huckabee savored strong reviews for his performance the previous night in the CNN-YouTube debate, at which the former Arkansas governor delivered one-liners, played up his humble roots and proposed abolishing the IRS in favor of a national sales tax.
Looks like the dark horse has finally caught his stride. He had a good debate performance and many considered him to be the winner. Romney on the other hand came off poorly particularly on the torture question where McCain took him to task for his calculated non-answer. Additionally Huckabee has been gaining momentum amongst evangelicals and social conservatives. The question is can Huckabee also pull in enough moderates and independents to have a real shot at getting the nod from the GOP? Frankly I think if he fails get the moderate vote a McCain/Huckabee ticket would be a good plan B since each candidate would bring to the table what the other lacks. That is of course provided we don't see a Huckabee/Norris ticket which is probably only slightly less likely.