"Huck and Chuck" show adds punch to campaign

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Martial arts guru and actor Chuck Norris is relishing one of his toughest roles yet: helping to propel Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee into the White House.

Norris has become an improbable campaign side-kick of the former Arkansas governor, a fellow devout Christian who surprisingly won the Iowa caucus kicking off the state-by-state party nomination process for the November presidential vote.

Norris, known for his action films and police TV show "Walker, Texas Ranger", says a group of young conservative bloggers brought Huckabee to his attention and he was struck by his ideas, including a proposal to replace all income tax with an across-the-board consumption tax.

"What sold me on Mike Huckabee is the message that he put across. I've felt that our system has been broken for a long time, our tax system," he told Reuters while taking a break from the campaign trail in New Hampshire, which holds its own primary contest on Tuesday.

The 67-year-old Norris says he decided to write an article of support for Huckabee -- a man he says he didn't know three months ago -- in his weekly column on the conservative weekly internet news service WorldDailyNet.com.

HUCK AND CHUCK

Huckabee's people then contacted him and the "Huck and Chuck" duo was born. It quickly became a quirky sideshow to the campaign.

The pair did some light-hearted spots on YouTube at Norris' Texas ranch: "Mike Huckabee ad: Chuck Norris approved".

That involved Norris telling the camera that Huckabee would "secure the border" and Huckabee quipping that when Norris did a push up "he pushes the earth down" -- a take on the "Chuck Norris facts" circulated in the internet which poke fun at his legendary toughness.

Bantering on the trail, Huckabee says he wants a national defense that is "Chuck Norris-approved" and Norris quips that he is not as tough as Huckabee because he couldn't take the strain of such a grueling campaign.

"When we got on board with Huckabee he was like at two percent and we just lit that spark. But if he didn't have the message the spark would have gone out," said Norris.

Norris said that his decision to support Huckabee, 52, a Baptist minister, went beyond their common faith.

"I think John McCain's a Christian, Fred Thompson, they're all Christians," said Norris, referring to other candidates in the Republican presidential contest.

"They're all friends of mine, I think they would all be good. But I'm looking for a great president," said Norris, a former world karate champion whose rough persona belies his soft-spoken and affable nature.

Norris now gives speeches on the stage with the candidate, focusing on what he says is Huckabee's commitment to education and his radical tax plan -- which is viewed skeptically by most economists but has some resonance in the U.S. heartland.

But Norris is planning to shake up the corporate and Republican establishment.

"Corporate America is not going to get behind him and that's where the big bucks are," said Norris. To raise money for Huckabee, he is having a "Virtual Barbecue" at his Texas ranch on January 20, which will be broadcast on the Internet.

Norris' presence certainly helps attract some of the young people who attend rallies by Huckabee, who sometimes plays bass guitar with supporting musicians at his own rallies.

(Editing by David Storey)

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)