Music to His Ears

For now, what Huckabee can do is explain his faith-based views.

"The pro-life movement has often been castigated for its focus on the child in the womb, and once the child got out of the womb, he was on his own," Huckabee says. "My point is, for us to show true credibility, we must show as much compassion for the child sleeping under the bridge or in the back seat of the car as we do for the one in the womb.

"That's what pro-life really means," he continues. "It is really about understanding the value of each individual life as having intrinsic worth. So whether that life is in the womb or is an 89-year-old invalid in long-term care, what we value is the individual and respect the dignity and value of that person."

Racing between events, Huckabee is speaking in the back of the Dodge belonging to his Iowa campaign manager, Eric Woolson, on his first trip here since his now legendary second-place finish to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the straw poll. He's returned very much a man on the cusp of something that could lead to the higher ground or a knee-tearing tumble. At this moment, Huckabee can rise into the tournament's top tier and have it out in an extended battle with Giuliani and Romney and Thompson, or fall back to a quiet life spent writing books and promoting nutrition in a post-political life.

"In every realm, from fundraising to media attention to endorsements from key leaders in early states to bloggers, everything has changed," Huckabee says. "It's also brought a new level of scrutiny. The more visible you are, the more of a target you become. It's a form of flattery to be attacked. Hunters never go out and put a bullet in a dead animal. They only put the crosshairs on a trophy they want to put down. The fact someone's taking a shot at me is a compliment."

He certainly didn't win over many in the Republican base by suggesting that the Clintons deserved credit for holding their marriage together after, well, you know. Nor have fiscal conservatives warmed to his idea of overhauling the tax system with a "fair tax," which includes eliminating all federal and corporate income taxes as well as personal income taxes, capital gains and death taxes and taxes on savings, but replace them with a federal retail sales tax.

It's hard to find much venom at a Pizza Ranch in Pella, where he addressed an older crowd of around 60 people Wednesday morning. He shows no hesitation in attacking the nation's two most powerful streets -- Wall Street and K Street -- or assailing the United States' reliance on the Saudi royal family for oil. Evoking Jack Kennedy's call to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s, he calls for a plan to create a nation run exclusively on home-grown, environmentally friendly resources in 10 years. Naturally, he sells the tax plan and tells of an impoverished youth.

The crowd loves his jokes. (Sample: "There are several things you'll never hear an Arkansan say. One of them is, 'Honey, I don't think duct tape will fix that.' Another one is 'No, we don't need another dog.' "

"I'm so tired of thinking our goal is to beat Democrats," Huckabee says of his party. "No. Our goal is to lift up America. And if we lift up America, people will elect us. . . . If we don't lift up America and the opportunities, then we shouldn't get elected. This isn't about beating Democrats. This is about having better ideas."

Before Huckabee's speech, 84-year-old Bill Schimmel, retired from the Pella window manufacturing company here, says: "He's a man after my own liking. He's pro-family and I think he's against abortion. As for a marriage, he's for a man and a woman, right?"

Afterward, Stephanie Visser, a 42-year-old mother of three, says: "I like his values. I like his tax plan. It makes sense to me. I haven't heard him say different things to different groups."

That consistency applies to Huckabee's approach to the media, as well. Even with all the marquee appearances, Huckabee works tiny media outlets from the back of the car, with Woolson tossing his cellphone so Huckabee can field interviews. Wednesday, he did three sit-down radio interviews, chatted on air with two local television affiliate reporters and had lunch with a newspaper columnist before catching an afternoon flight home. He studiously avoided piling on Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) about his arrest, saying, "He's got a lot of explaining to do."

Whether such focus on Huckabee will continue after Labor Day, when the expensive turbines of the more well-heeled candidates begin moving again, remains to be seen. Along will come Thompson to shop his own folksy presidential wisdom to Republican voters. All the other guy from Hope, Ark., can do for the moment is build on his pseudo-victory, remaining media-friendly and jocular for curious event-attendees trying to gauge what this guy's all about. In other words, he's gonna milk the straw poll for quite some time.

"The people saying, 'He can't do it, he can't do it,' quit after that Saturday night," Huckabee says. "And that's what's changed. People were always very kind about my message. Even national reporters were saying, 'Why isn't he catching on?' People just didn't think I could win and then thought maybe I can."