The significance of Huckabee's second place finish

In addition to the media attention following his superb showing at yesterday's Iowa straw poll, Mike Huckabee barely burned any money in the process.  Mitt Romney and Sam Brownback could not say the same -- both of which invested a great deal of resources in the contest.  More than anything, Huckabee voters were drawn to his brand of conservatism, not his money.  This was a huge boost for Huckabee, while some other candidates now ponder whether to drop out of the race:

The former Arkansas governor captured 2,587 votes (18% of the total)to Romney's 4,516 (32%), and said after the results were announced thathe had spent less than $150,000 on the effort. Unlike rival campaigns,the Huckabee operation rented no buses for the event, relying onsupporters to transport themselves to Ames. And more remarkably,Huckabee's vote total was higher than the number of tickets hiscampaign had purchased. That means either some of his supporters paidthe $35 cost on their own instead of — as most voters do — obtainingtheir tickets through the campaign or Huckabee won the support ofvoters who attended the straw-poll on other campaigns' dimes.

Huckabee, with his engaging manner, gubernatorialexperience, and credential as a Baptist minister, may now be able toforce his way into the first tier. He appeared, beaming, in the mediaarea at the end of the evening and for the first time in the campaign,he was mobbed by journalists. He now plans to present himself as theleading conservative alternative to the frontrunners and may well gainsupport from frustrated social conservatives who have been displeasedwith their options among frontrunners.

Sam Brownback and Tom Tancredo just blew a huge opportunity.  Tommy Thompson is expected to leave the race.  Duncan Hunter had a terribly poor showing, and may decide to leave as well.

Among Mitt Romney, Rudolph Giuliani, Fred Thompson and John McCain, Huckabee might be the only true conservative.  I really think one of these five candidates will win the nomination.  Brownback and Tancredo had to do well yesterday, and instead were big disappointments.

Comments

[JLW]

Huckabee's success was due to the Fairtax organization.

[JLW]

See here:

http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Huckabee_s_secret_sauce_The_FairTax