DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican Mike Huckabee's quick rise to the top of the presidential pack in Iowa may be the 2008 campaign's most improbable success story -- but staying there could be even tougher.
Huckabee's surge, fueled in part by growing support among the state's sizable bloc of religious conservatives, was accomplished on a bare-bones budget with few paid staff, nominal advertising, and without the candidate visiting the state from early November to early December.
But a strong showing in Iowa on January 3 could be the easy part for the former Baptist minister, who will face a contest five days later in New Hampshire where there are far fewer religious conservatives.
I think that this means that Huckabee will probably have more of a chance at becoming president now because he is getting a lot more support now and he is on a bare minimum budget.
