Republican presidential candidates have pulled out their knives for Mr. Nice Guy. A surprising surge of support for Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, who had long seemed a rank outsider in the 2008 presidential race has turned him into a target six weeks before voting in Iowa.

The Times of London reports that “running on a shoestring budget as an affable conservative with unrivalled religious qualifications (he is a former Baptist minister), Huckabee has been previously dismissed as an under-funded no-hoper. He is mostly known for a quirky sense of humor and his skills on bass guitar - he plays for a band called Capitol Offense.”

But last week everything changed when an opinion poll propelled Huckabee close to the top of the Republican heap in Iowa, the traditional launching pad for presidential careers. He has overtaken Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York and Fred Thompson, the former senator and Hollywood actor. Huckabee is trailing Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, by less than the poll’s margin of error.”

Suddenly, Huckabee’s opponents have provoked a flurry of investigations into his checkered record as Arkansas governor and his potentially damaging history of ethical and financial lapses. He’s been negatively compared to Bill Clinton, another former governor of Arkansas, and portrayed as the liberal, pro-life Republican presidential candidate.

Nonetheless, the rumor mills (unconfirmed) have been swirling that Mr. Giuliani wants to pick Huckabee as his running mate if he’s nominated.

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