Presidential Race Down to Four
From this distant perspective (i.e. Idaho), it appears that the presidential campaign has effectively narrowed to four personalities. On the Democratic side, there is little doubt that Hillary will be the nominee. That will be a tragic, if historic, moment for a party which once advocated for the most vulnerable.
On the Republican side of the ledger, the race is looking like a contest to stop Rudy Giuliani, who continues to lead in both national polling and money. His glib personality and liberal politics has given him a substantial media edge from the very beginning of this race.
McCain and Thompson are much too tired for the challenge.
That leaves, in my view, Romney as the principal challenger to Rudy. The only big question mark at this late date is Mike Huckabee.
We reported on Huckabee’s stellar showing at the recent “Values Voters Summit” sponsored by the Family Research Council in which he won a decisive preference among participants. That victory is helping fuel a surge of support for Mike Huckabee across the nation.
The former governor of Arkansas moved into the “Top Tier” of candidates, according to the Rasmussen Report last week. Their polling showed that Huckabee is now in a statistical tie with Mitt Romney in their national tracking. That is certainly good news for the Huckabee Campaign – but the challenge they face at this point in the cycle is enormous.
With the Iowa Caucuses now just 2 months away, national polling data is only good for fundraising. Of much greater consequence is what goes on in the key opening states: Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
The University of Iowa is reporting that Romney leads among likely GOP’ers in that state with an impressive 36% of the vote – and that Romney’s base is growing. As of a week ago, Huckabee and Giuliani were tied for second place at 13% each.
Huckabee has a very short window, perhaps a month, to raise a passel of money and build an organization in two states where Romney and Giuliani have been working for some two years. That is a daunting task. But Mike Huckabee now has his moment.
Posted at 10/31/2007 07:48:00 AM Link to this article 
2 Comments:
Let us not forget Ron Paul, a man with a proven track record. He has gained a lot lately, though the press has given him little notice. Still, there is a strong grass roots campaign and who knows what can happen in the next few months. Mike is certainly better than either Rudy or the others, but Mitt has some real pro-life issues that need to be dealt with before he gets our support. I wonder what would happen if we all got behind just one very pro-life candidate. Thanks Jim Hollingsworth
Mike Huckabee does indeed get his opportunity. Many of us hopes he can make the run - but there are even greater problems than the ones you've identified.
Today's column from Robert Novak, for example, points to Huckabee as an economic liberal. He quotes Huckabee as calling Club for Growth, "Club for Greed". That kind of attitude toward spending and taxes is a real problem.
We'll see how this goes. Unfortunately, we won't have to wait long.
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