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So far, Huckabee has been almost entirely excluded from the networks' agenda, "known mostly as the charming former governor of Arkansas," as NBC's Lee Cowan put it, "he had a funny name and played in a rock band." ABC anchor Charles Gibson (subscription required) had included him in his Who Is? series of profiles and CBS' Jeff Greenfield offered him as an example of the difficulty of dark horse candidacies in August. So Huckabee's late advances in Iowa reveal that the Republican nomination "is still very much up for grabs," ABC's Jake Tapper (subscription required) announced.
Huckabee made "big gains among evangelicals, conservatives, abortion opponents and weekly churchgoers," ABC's Tapper told us, reading his network's poll internals. "He cultivates an affable image with communication skills honed as a Baptist minister and televangelist." NBC's Cowan commented on his "folksy self-deprecating humor" and noted his endorsement by pro-wrestler Ric Flair and martial arts actor Chuck Norris. Cowan ran the punchline from a Huckabee TV ad: "My plan to secure the border--Two Words Chuck Norris."
Both ABC and NBC followed up with analysis from their Sunday morning anchors. Tim Russert of NBC's Meet the Press saw jockeying for position, to use a horse race metaphor. Giuliani would like Huckabee to slow down Romney in Iowa "to keep this race going for New Hampshire and South Carolina." George Stephanopoulos of ABC's This Week speculated that the longshot Huckabee's surge may reflect "overall pessimism" among the Republican base about any General Election victory: "If it is going to be difficult to win we might as well go with a candidate who agrees most with us," was how he paraphrased their thinking.
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