Rudy McRomney, the composite name used as political shorthand to denote the top three Republican presidential hopefuls, might soon be expanded to Rudy “Huck” McRomney. “I wish my name would get in the moniker,” said former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at Tuesday night’s Republican debate here. “I could use the bump.”
Based on his widely praised performances in Tuesday’s debate and an earlier debate in California, Huckabee’s bump might be taking shape. Pundits and politicians say he is rapidly ascending into the top tier of GOP candidates, an elite group that until Tuesday had been limited to Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney.
“I thought tonight you saw, in my view, an expansion from three to four,” former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steel told The Examiner in the post-debate “spin room” at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. “Tonight you saw a great shift.”
Fellow Republican Rich Galen was also impressed by Huckabee’s performance.
“Huckabee did well enough so that the big three is now the big three and a half,” the political analyst concluded.
Huckabee had the most memorable one-liner of the evening when he poked fun at Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards for paying $400 for a haircut.
“We’ve had a Congress that’s spent money like John Edwards at a beauty shop,” Huckabee quipped, bringing down the house.
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Asked later by The Examiner whether the line had been rehearsed, Huckabee said: “No, but I think I’m goiong to use it again. It seems to go over well.”
Huckabee said the debates have gone a long way toward proving he is not a second tier candidate.
“What I hope happened tonight and in Califiornia is that people came away saying, heck he belongs on that stage,” Huckabee told The Examiner. “He can stand on that stage and he’s not a second tier candidate; he’s got first tier ideas. He’s got first tier capacity to express those to the American people and to win their support.
“The only reason that some people are first tier is that they have a whole lot of money,” he added. “If that’s what the presidency is about, we’re moving toward a plutocracy, not a presidency.”
Although Huckabee has raised only a tiny fraction of the money amassed by his better known rivals, he said even that is beginning to change.
“We’ve already started getting reports that our Web site is getting hit with contributions,” he said just minutes after Tuesday’s debate ended. “So I know it’s having an impact.”
