Huckabee surges in CBS News/ New York Times Poll

The huge upsurge in support for Mike Huckabee has amazed many political pundits.It is all the more remarkable considering the fact that his campaign is run on a shoe string. According to the CBS News/ New York Times Poll Huckabee and Giuliani are now neck and neck. This is in sharp contrast to the corresponding poll on 10/07 .

REPUBL ICAN CHOICE FOR THE NOMINATION(Among Republican Primary Voters)

• Giuliani 22% (-7% )
• Huckabee 21 (+17%)
• Romney 16(+4%)
• McCain 7 (-11%)
• Thompson 7 (-14%)

Huckabee has made huge gains among conservatives, white evangelicals and those who attend church weekly. Both Giuliani’s and Thompson’s standing among those voters has declined. Romney receives support from those who attend religious services weekly (43% of Republican primary voters), and ties Huckabee among this group of voters.

Comment:

Huckabee's compassionate conservatism has struck a chord with GOP voters. Now some Democrat strategists fear that Huckabee's conservatism on social and fiscal policy could pose major problems for their candidate. He has the capacity to win African -American votes and also votes from Independents and conservative Democrats. Huckabee has clear cut policies on major issues. What you see is what you get. He supports the Fair Tax so he is a tax cutter. He is strong on the Federal Deficit. He is implacably opposed to abortion. He stresses the importance of God. Increasingly support from Fred Thompson appears to have gravitated towards Mike Huckabee.

Mitt Romney has targeted Huckabee. It is estimated that Romney is spending $85,000-plus a day on TV ads. Huckabee lacks the financial muscle to compete with this war chest. However he could win sympathy votes from an electorate which has become increasingly cynical about massive spending in electoral campaigns. Hopefully the Huckabee campaign can amass sufficient funds to counter negative advertising from opponents.