Huckabee's New England Appeal

Iowa hearts Huckabee. But will New Hampshire? The former Arkansas governor and Baptist pastor is trying desperately to avoid the fate of another religious leader-turned politician, Pat Robertson, who finished a strong second in the Iowa caucuses in 1988 only to fade quickly in the contests that followed. That's one reason why Huckabee is altering his appeals and toning down the religious rhetoric that energized his Iowa supporters. He can't win New Hampshire, but if he can place third with a significant share of voters who are not driven by social issues, his candidacy may be bigger (and more purely populist) than many pundits now think.