Tough Road Ahead for Huckabee
By LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press
December 4, 2007
Page 2 of 2
In Iowa, Huckabee has a lean organization compared with Romney's robust effort. A campaign able to turn out voters is critical in a caucus; that requires both manpower and money.
Until recently, Huckabee's effort here was primarily made up of a state director, Eric Woolson, as well as a top Iowa surrogate, Bob Vander Plaats, and some volunteers. The candidate has increased staff in the past few weeks, and he has been tapping into church congregations and religious networks whose members could be a powerful voting bloc.
''I think the organization has to catch up to the candidate and the candidate's message,'' Woolson acknowledged last week.
In money, Huckabee significantly trails Romney, a wealthy former venture capitalist with a healthy bank account. While fundraising has improved, it's unclear whether Huckabee will have enough to counter negative attack ads that are all but certain in the coming weeks.
''We'll have enough to be competitive,'' Huckabee said. In a warning of sorts to his opponents, Huckabee added: ''People in Iowa do not respond real well to the knee-capping of political candidates.'' Iowans, he said, ''are not easily swayed by attack ads.''
Among Huckabee's other challenges: convincing Iowans that he's able to go the distance.
''There is some concern that after Iowa, because of the compression of all the states having their caucuses and primaries so close together -- and with little time to raise any money -- that you're probably going to have a lot of money in the bank to run TV ads,'' said Steve Scheffler, president of the Iowa Christian Alliance, which has not endorsed a candidate. ''That probably hampers him a little bit.''
Contests after Iowa are just as tough, if not more so.
Huckabee trails his better-known, better-financed rivals in next-up New Hampshire, as well as Michigan, South Carolina, Nevada and elsewhere. He hasn't been on the air in any of those states, although he has visited some of them recently.
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