Huckabee on the Rise

Rasmussen's latest polls show Huckabee not only in double digits but tied with Thompson and close behind McCain.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows Rudy Giuliani on top, Mitt Romney in second, and Fred Thompson sinking in the race for the Republican Presidential Nomination. Giuliani attracts 27% support from Likely Republican Primary voters nationwide while Romney has moved up a couple of points to 16%. John McCain remains in third at 13% while Thompson is now tied with Mike Huckabee at 11%.

New polling data released yesterday also reports Huckabee gaining ground on Fred Thompson in the quest for the "true conservative" mantle:

During the early stumbles of Fred Thompson’s Presidential campaign, his poll numbers and position in the race were sustained by the perception of Republican voters that he was the most conservative candidate in the Republican field. That is no longer the case.

Mitt Romney now tops Thompson and is seen as the most conservative candidate while Mike Huckabee is gaining ground fast on that front.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey data shows that 46% of Republican voters see Romney as politically conservative.

At the same time, the number seeing Thompson as politically conservative has fallen eleven percentage points to 40%. Thirty-four percent (34%) of Republicans now see the former Tennessee Senator as politically moderate while 3% say he’s liberal. As doubts of Thompson’s conservative credentials have grown, his support in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll has declined.

Moving up fast in the competition for most conservative contender is Mike Huckabee. Thirty-eight percent (38%) now view him as politically conservative, twenty percent (20%) say moderate, and 6% liberal. In July, before the Huckabee boomlet began, just 21% viewed him as conservative while 27% said moderate or liberal.

Huckabee is still less well known than the other contenders and 36% of Republican voters do not know enough to offer an opinion on his ideology. Among those Republicans who do offer an opinion on his ideology, 59% view Huckabee as politically conservative. That’s a point higher than Romney earns among those who have an opinion on his ideology.