Huckabee Leads Nationally; Signs "No Amnesty" Immigration Pledge

A Rasmussen poll released today shows that Governor Mike Huckabee leads among Republicans nationwide with 23%. Senator John McCain is in second with 20%. Polls also show that Huckabee is now tied with McCain in South Carolina.

Meanwhile, in a move that will increase his support among conservatives, Governor Huckabee yesterday signed a "No Amnesty" pledge concerning illegal immigrants.

HUCKABEE MOVES INTO TIE FOR FIRST PLACE!

It was the little campaign that could. Incredibly, even though he is being outspent 10 to 1, Mike Huckabee, according to a CBS/New York Times poll has moved into a dead heat for first place NATIONALLY among GOP voters with Rudy Giuliani.CNN is reporting the same thing.

If you would like to join Chuck Norris and myself and become a "Huckabee Ranger," watch the funny YouTube video above.

Huckabee Moves Into Second Place

Mike Huckabee has surged into second place nationally among Republicans and is leading in Iowa. His numbers are up 10 points in one month. This is a tremendous surge considering that just a few months ago, he was way back in the pack with 1-2% poll numbers. And he has managed all this with a tiny percentage of the funding that candidates like Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney have and with Fred Thompson, another conservative favorite, officially entering the race in September.

Why? It's his character and personality. I saw for myself in Arkansas last year, and I knew that once the rest of America got to know the Governor, they would feel the same way. Plus, and I cannot continue to overemphasize this enough, if the Republicans want to win the White House again next year, they will have to take the South as a whole, including Florida and Texas, the way George W. Bush did in 2000 and 2004. Mike Huckabee, as a southern conservative, can do just that.

Now, we just need Mike to come to Pullman and speak!

Mike Huckabee in Bellevue

Mike Huckabee was over in Bellevue today for a fundriasing luncheon and a tour of Microsoft. He'll attended the King County Republican Party Fall Dinner tonight. I wish I could have been there.

The Seattle Times has the story. Huckabee picked up an endorsement from one of Washington's evangelical leaders, Rev. Joe Fuiten, today as well.

Meanwhile, polls show the Governor's support in Iowa to be at 24%, just 2% behind front-runner Mitt Romney

Huckabee Versus Hillary or Obama

For a candidate without a great deal of name recognition, Mike Huckabee does pretty well against the Democratic Party's dynamic duo. Although, I think that if we did a poll about Rasmussen's arithmetic skills, I think they'd rank pretty low. At least, I hope so.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of his political strength shows Senator Hillary Clinton leading Governor Huckabee by eight points, 48% to 40%. Senator Barack Obama leads Huckabee by eleven, 47% to 38%.

In our August 19 survey of the race, the Republican man from Hope also trailed Hillary Clinton by eight percentage points. In May, he lagged by five.

The gap between Huckabee and Obama is similarly unchanged since our August poll—he lags by nine points in both polls. Huckabee trailed the Illinois Democrat by twenty points or so in two earlier surveys of this match-up.

Governor Huckabee is a more credible contender than other Republican long shots such as Ron Paul or Sam Brownback. He currently attracts 5% support in the race for the Republican Presidential Nomination, putting him in fifth place.

He is still unknown to many voters but is viewed favorably by 31%, unfavorably by 35%. His favorables have been inching upward since November, when 17% viewed him favorably and 21% viewed him unfavorably.