Huckabee trying to sneak up on Republican leaders

WATERLOO, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican candidate Mike Huckabee is trying to sneak up on the leaders in his party's presidential race and is doing it with a folksy style that mixes jokes with a firm commitment to conservative values.

Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas who made a name for himself by dropping 110 pounds (50 kg) in weight and writing a book about it, is running a lean campaign, trying to use what money he has to the best advantage.

And he is taking a page out of the old political handbook that it is important to shake as many hands as possible and look people in the eye.

So it was that Huckabee found himself at Doughy Joey's pizza joint in Waterloo this week, telling a crowded room about being from Hope, Arkansas, the same hometown as the original "man from Hope," former Democratic President Bill Clinton.

There was the time his son made a cake for the family but did not know what a dash of salt was so he mixed a cup into the batter just to make sure there was enough.

"You won't eat it, but if you have cows at home, they might lick it for a week or two," Huckabee says.

That kind of talk plays well in the farm country of Iowa and he is seen as a wild card here.

He is attempting to pull off a surprise victory or have a high finish in Iowa's January 3 caucuses, when voters gather in groups and make their choices in the Republican and Democrat races, kicking off the process that will lead to the November 4, 2008, presidential election.

Huckabee is drawing support from those Republicans who are not all that happy with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is leading in national polls, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is leading polls in Iowa.

"I'm a Huckabee person. The front-runners are just not cutting it for me," said Bernie McKinley, 78, of Waterloo. "They waffle on issues I care about."

ABSOLUTE STANCE

McKinley and others applauded Huckabee's absolute stance against abortion and against gay marriage. Giuliani, by contrast, favors abortion rights and gay rights.

"He has one message, not a message for each area that he goes to," said Gloria Gallaher, 72. "He has principles and character and intellect. I think Giuliani is too liberal. He doesn't take a direct stand on anything."

On the stump, Huckabee speaks unequivocally against illegal immigration, saying, "If people can't get jobs with legal documentation, then they won't stay because there's no reason for them to."

He talks tough on the war against Islamic extremism -- but with a twist.

He says Americans are paying for both sides of the war. Tax-payer revenues are funding U.S. troops, and American purchases of gasoline made from Middle Eastern oil are funding extremism.

Americans need to wean themselves off foreign oil to the extent that within 10 years, "we tell the Saudis and everybody else ... that you can keep your oil because we need it as much as your sand," he says.

What Huckabee calls his "surge" in Iowa against better-known and better-financed candidates is getting the attention of Republican experts.

"He could be the big surprise out of Iowa," said Republican strategist Scott Reed. "He scores very high on the likeability scale. He still needs to be able to raise more money."

Huckabee says the cash has been flowing in lately -- "We're getting more money in the mail now accidentally than we used to get on purpose" -- and he shrugged off Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback's endorsement of a Republican rival, John McCain.

As for his underdog role, it is something he relishes.

"I'm going to sneak up on them a little more and overtake them at the right time. That's the way a good race is run -- always keep 'em guessing, always over-perform, never under-perform. And it's what's at the finish line that counts," he says.

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

(Additional reporting by Andrea Hopkins; Editing by Lori Santos and Stuart Grudgings)