Mike Huckabee, armed with little more than a bass guitar and the kind of Christian conservative authenticity that his rivals cannot buy, is elbowing his way into the 2008 Republican presidential contest.

Written off in the summer as a no-hope prospect, he has made up so much ground that what was once a four-way race between Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and John McCain now has a fifth hard-running – if dark – horse in the field.

According to recent polls this former Arkansas Governor, who likes to fire up evening campaign events with his rock band, Capitol Offense, is tied for second place behind Mr Romney in Iowa, which kicks off the nominating on January 3. He is also showing signs of life in other key early states such as New Hampshire and South Carolina. Although most national surveys still show him trailing the likes of Mr Giuliani by a wide margin, one poll this week suggested that his support had leapt to 13 per cent – the same as that for Mr McCain and 1 per cent more than Mr Romney.

Over lunch in Washington yesterday Mr Huckabee, 51, spoke of his amazement over a “phenomenal couple of weeks” that began when he so out-shone his rivals before an audience of Evangelicals that a straw poll among those present backed him by five to one. Since then, fuelled by celebrity endorsements, he has received a desperately needed injection of cash.

The campaign was expecting yesterday to reach $1 million (£500,000) raised online this month, still not much compared with the $53.6 million spent so far by Mr Romney, but the equivalent of winning the lottery for Mr Huckabee, who had spent only $1.7 million on his presidential bid before September 30. “I now get to stay in hotels where I’m not the only guest wearing sleeves. And I get towels as part of the rate for the room, rather than having to pay extra,” he told The Times with typical, and apparently genuine, good humour.

He compared his rise to that of another man who was born in Hope, Arkansas, and went on to become Governor of his home state and then President. “I’m in the same position that Bill Clinton was in the fall of ’91,” Mr Huckabee said, “when people were saying, ‘Who does he think he’s kidding?’.”

Mr Huckabee has a compelling personal story, which includes shedding 110lb (50kg) after a doctor warned him that obesity would kill him. He is also an ordained Southern Baptist minister, a matter of some consequence for Evangelical voters who are used to holding great sway over the Republican nomination and have strong reservations about the other candidates.

But as Mr Clinton himself pointed out recently, Mr Huckabee is a Christian conservative without the anger or self-righteousness that characterise many of his fellow believers.

Does he think that God is on his side? “I would never be so presumptuous,” Mr Huckabee replied. Will non-Christians go to Hell? “I don’t know. Being president is not about picking out the people who will go to Heaven or Hell. Jesus will sort that out.”

His rivals suggest that Mr Huckabee lacks the deep pockets and organisation needed to sustain momentum. Instead, his name is being touted widely as a vice-presidential running mate to balance the ticket for the likes of Mr Giuliani, who is regarded with suspicion by Christian conservatives on issues such as abortion and gay rights. But Mr Huckabee insisted yesterday that he remained focused solely on winning in his own right, declining even to say whether he would support Mr Giuliani for president if Republicans nominated their first “pro-choice” candidate on abortion for a generation.

He has his own right-wing critics, who attack his record as Arkansas Governor when he raised taxes and allowed the release of Wayne DuMond, a rapist who was castrated and later sexually assaulted and killed another woman. Mr Huckabee spent some time yesterday defending his position on both issues, particularly the “horrible, awful” case of DuMond.

He said that proof that his campaign had come alive was that he now found himself “in the crosshairs of every predator out there”, adding: “A good hunter never aims his gun at a dead carcass.”

How they stand

With Republican primary voters

Giuliani 25%
Thompson 17%
Romney 14%
Huckabee 12%
McCain 12%

With Democrat primary voters

Clinton 42%
Obama 22%
Edwards 14%

Source: Rasmussen Reports poll

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