THE NOTE: Hearting Huckabee

October 22, 2007 — -- This fight got so messy that Mitt Romney's hair was out of place even before last night's GOP debate started in Orlando. It was so intense that Rudy Giuliani may not have cared that his hated Red Sox were advancing to the World Series over on another Murdoch property. It was such compelling television that Fred Thompson stayed awake -- for the entire 90 minutes, give or take.

But now that we've seen the battle over who's the pure Republican play out in the open on a debate stage, the answer is -- none of the above.

We get it -- they all loathe Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. And when it comes to one another, the top-tier candidates have all memorized the opposition research -- and learned the requisite lines. "The debate stood out for the intensity and personal nature of the exchanges, as Republicans tried to distinguish themselves -- a tactic that risked highlighting the unhappiness among conservatives with much of the field," write Michael Cooper and Marc Santora in The New York Times.

The candidates who were on the offensive last night (that would be all of the Big Four) were sharply attacked themselves, and they came ready for combat. "Former Senator Fred Thompson sought to paint Rudy Giuliani as a liberal," ABC's David Chalian, Jan Simmonds, and Christine Byun report. "The battle for the conservative mantle continued when John McCain attempted to portray Mitt Romney as someone who has shifted his positions and focus on certain issues for political expediency."

But another candidate stayed out of the major dust-ups, and whether it was by design or by circumstance, it could help earn him another look -- and drive the news coming out of a big weekend in the GOP race. A day after his close second at the "Values Voters Summit" straw poll -- and two days after Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., exited stage right -- former governor Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., again brought his humor to bear on real conservative substance at the debate.

Who wouldn't want to be in this position? "Huckabee, who has been crowding his way into the top tier of the race, stood by throughout the early exchanges, then chided the others for attacking one another, saying Americans are 'looking for a presidential candidate who's not so interested in a demolition derby against the other people in his own party,' " Dan Balz and Michael Shear write in The Washington Post.

Huckabee has had his moments earlier in the campaign (particularly out of the Ames straw poll) and has failed to cobble together the fund-raising numbers that would force himself into the top tier. He now reaches a key moment: Do evangelical leaders think he has a chance? If they do, then he does. If they don't, then he doesn't -- it's really that simple.

Other debate tidbits: Thompson, R-Tenn., did his homework this time, unleashing the kitchen sink on Giuliani, R-N.Y.: "sanctuary cities," Mario Cuomo, gun control, abortion. Giuliani "sides with Hillary Clinton on each of those issues," Thompson said, per Michael Finnegan of the Los Angeles Times. Rudy showed that when he's hit, he'll hit back -- and hard: "[Thompson] voted against almost anything that would make our legal system fairer."

The other major mini-battle pitted McCain, R-Ariz., and Romney, R-Mass., against each other. "Governor Romney, you've just spent the last year trying to fool people about your record," McCain said, per The Boston Globe's Michael Kranish. And he drew a standing ovation with this line, about the $1 million earmark Clinton sought for a Woodstock museum: "I wasn't there. I'm sure it was a cultural and pharmaceutical event. . . I was tied up at the time."

"Gradually, they shifted their attention away from one another and onto a common foe, Sen. Hillary Clinton," Politico's Jonathan Martin writes. "But it was the scrapping among themselves that summed up the increasingly heated Republican primary race."

"The intraparty battle quickly gave way to the broader war against the Democrats and their front-running candidate, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton," Joseph Curl writes in the Washington Times. "I don't want her as commander in chief," Romney said. "She has never run anything. And the idea that she could learn to be president, you know, as an internship, just doesn't make any sense." (When you mention Clintons and interns in the same sentence, you mean business.)

If Giuliani does win the nomination, this exchange could stand out as a prime example of how he did it. Asked if there was "much difference between you and Clinton," this line brought laughter: "You got to be kidding." "I became a Yankee fan growing up in New York. She became a Yankee fan growing up in Chicago," he said. "Second, she made a statement last week -- and I've been very critical of her, but I want to tell her I agree with this one. Quote, Hillary Clinton, 'I have a million ideas; America cannot afford them all.' I'm not making it up. I am not making it up."

Mark Halperin of Time and ABC News gives the debate to McCain and Giuliani, with A- grades, and gives a B to a spotty Thompson. "Started with high energy, bountiful quips, and a bundle of opposition research on his opponents' records of deviating from conservative orthodoxy. Ended with a long, staged joke fending off the 'lazy' charge. Offered up some timid answers midway. Came across as a warrior at times and was way better than he was in his first rodeo, but still not a dominating figure."

Read the transcript of my debate blog here.

As for Huckabee, he's on a steady upward trajectory -- something no other Republican candidate (save Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas) can truly claim. "The potential emergence of Mike Huckabee into the first tier is a significant development in the GOP race," writes John McIntyre of Real Clear Politics. "If the big news coming out of Iowa is Huckabee, and not Mitt Romney, that would be a devastating blow for the former Massachusetts governor's chances. (And a very strong second may be good enough to make Huckabee the big news.)"

Remember that at the "Values Voters Summit," Romney edged out Huckabee, but the victory was too narrow to mean much. "Questions were raised about the way the voting was conducted -- votes were permitted to be cast online as far back as August -- and even top leaders said there did not appear to be any consensus," Michael Luo wrote in The New York Times. "The Romney campaign trumpeted the victory, but there was only a smattering of applause in the auditorium when his name was announced and the event's organizers cautioned against his deriving any kind of mandate from the results."

The American Spectator's Jennifer Rubin called Huckabee's overwhelming win among those who actually saw the candidates speak a "stunning result." "If a substantial number of social conservative activists say Huckabee could be their guy, [that] this is someone who we trust and don't have to compromise with, then Iowa becomes a very, very interesting race. This is true especially if this support materializes and brings with it money."

Concord Monitor editor Mike Pride urges a second look for Huckabee: "Huckabee is just the kind of candidate for whom the New Hampshire primary purports to exist," Pride writes. "While New Hampshire Republicans wait and see, they owe it to themselves -