WH hopeful Huckabee builds evangelical support

PLANO, Texas -- As the 2008 presidential race heads toward the first nominating contests, Mike Huckabee is getting more news coverage, moving up in polls, and even drawing some attacks from other Republicans.

Now the former Arkansas governor needs enough money to capitalize.

Despite strong showings in a recent Iowa poll and a straw poll of evangelical voters Oct. 20, Huckabee has struggled to raise money to keep up with Mitt Romney, the Republican fundraising leader, and Rudy Giuliani, who tops national surveys for the nomination.

Huckabee spent the weekend raising money in Texas, his second-largest source of donations from July through September. His appearances at churches in Plano and Irving on Sunday also highlighted a strategy of his long-shot White House bid: building support from evangelical Christians who make up a chunk of Iowa's GOP voters.

"We're really grateful for the prosperity of Texas," Huckabee, a former minister, joked after preaching Sunday at Plano's Prestonwood Baptist Church, north of Dallas.

"Historically, there are three tickets out of Iowa," Huckabee said. "First class, business and coach. If you don't get one of those, you go home freight."

Huckabee said his church appearances were not political, though some of his listeners were not so reticent.

"I think he's the most godly of all the candidates," said Susan Pinkerton, a homemaker from Rockwall, Texas.

The sermons stuck to Scripture, though some of Huckabee's lessons could apply to politics. Discussing how he once took bobsledding lessons, Huckabee quoted his young teacher's advice to "steer for the curve ahead — forget what's behind you."

Huckabee believes the presidential race is turning his way.

An Oct. 29 Hawkeye Poll put Huckabee third in the nation's first caucus state, with 12.8%, up from 2% in August. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, led with 36.2%, and former New York City mayor Giuliani was at 13.1%. The poll had an error margin of +/-5.8%.

Huckabee's campaign said its online fundraising for October topped $1 million and exceeded by $1 his entire take for July through September. He picked up $100,000 on Saturday at an event in DeSoto, south of Dallas.

"One of the things that's been very frustrating for me to hear is, you know, 'How can you win without more money?' " Huckabee said Saturday during an interview. "And I'm thinking, 'Look where we are with what we have.' "

David Redlawsk, co-director of the Hawkeye Poll, said candidates don't have to be "incredibly rich" to succeed in Iowa, but they need to have a staff to "get people out to caucuses." The Des Moines Register reported Romney has a paid staff of 67 in Iowa, compared with eight for Huckabee. But Redlawsk added that Huckabee does have something his Republican opponents don't: "a strong base of evangelical Christians."

Huckabee said Christian voters could make up as much as 40% of the Republican vote at the caucuses Jan. 3.

"The thing about the evangelical vote: If they're with you, they're really with you," Huckabee said. "They'll come out on a snowy … night to vote."

Huckabee said his new money would pay for staff and advertising, plus trips to other early contest states such as New Hampshire and South Carolina. But Iowa, he said, is "where we'll spend a whole bunch of our time."

Along the way, Huckabee may also have to deal with a choir of conservative critics.

The Club for Growth, a Washington group that campaigns against tax increases, produced a list of levies put in place while Huckabee was governor, including taxes for sales, fuel, beer and cigarettes. "This is all about a ploy for the vice presidency," said Pat Toomey, the club's president. "He knows he can't run with the big dogs here."

Huckabee said Arkansas voters signed off on fuel and conservation taxes. He also played up what he calls a "great" record on tax cuts, including passage of a "taxpayers' bill of rights."

As for all the talk of being somebody's running mate, Huckabee said: "That'd be like asking a team at halftime would they settle for second place. That's not my goal right now."

Contributing: Fredreka Schouten