Huckabee Catching Up to Giuliani as Top Republican

Bloomberg, 12/5/7

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is surging nationally in the Republican presidential race as he runs better than 3-to-1 ahead of his nearest competitor among religious conservatives.

A Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll shows that Huckabee, with 17 percent support, trails only longtime front-runner Rudy Giuliani, with 23 percent. Huckabee has been running strong in the first voting state of Iowa, though well behind the leading candidates in national surveys. In this latest poll, he forges ahead of Fred Thompson, John McCain and Mitt Romney.