I think the real things that are moving in this picture is this:

* Rudy disappearing, and beginning to be seen as not really in this race, as the spotlight moves to Huckabee and Romney and as Rudy disappears for an entire month from the headlines (for anything good). His support will probably go to Romney

* Huck is not bad as a campaigner, and he won some points with his floating cross advertisement, but the constant attacks on him by the conservative elite (i.e. think tanks and talk show hosts) has got to take its toll on him

* Also Romney got the Tancredo endorsement, and it's a good possibility that he gets the Hunter endorsement too. I see Hunter dropping out very soon. If Huck can get the Hunter endorsement, he could get some momentum back.

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Two weeks ago we were all saying that about McCain. A month ago Huckabee was not only not in it, but was never going to be. The race is fluid and dynamic to really call right now. But, Giuliani will stick around until Feb 5th no matter what (that's always been his plan), so he's not going anywhere in time to make a meaningful endorsement.

I keep thinking so. And it really should. Why it hasn't really done so yet is beyond me.

I don't think the Hunter endorsement matters. Tancredo did because he's the standard bearer for anti-illegal immigration. If you had reservations about Romney and illegals then Tancredo's endorsement is a big deal. I don't think Hunter has a similiar niche that he can really fill.

Well McCain was dead for most of the past few months. Personally, I saw Huckabee coming up. I was listening to NPR in October and they were talking about how they had no genuine conservative and there was a lot of talk about Huck, although his fiscal and immigration policies were unknown at the time. I saw him coming. I didn't think it would be this big though.

Rudy may stick around till 2/5, but his support will probably go down in the next few weeks, and that supports got to go somewhere.

I agree that the race is extremely fluid, and that one cannot make long run predictions with much certainty.

Everyday I look at the polls, I keep expecting to see him go down, but he doesn't.

Hunter's primary reputation is protectionist and anti-China. However, I think he is also a border hawk. Huck is hurting in border policy. I think one thing that really fueled Huck was the endorsement he got from Neal Boortz, since Huck signed onto the Fair Tax. If Huck really talks tough, he can get some credentials for his border policy with some more endorsements and that will make some of the Huck = Jimmy Carter bleeding stop.

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Huckabee already has Jim Gilcrist for border security. I don't think Hunter brings anything to that table that Gilcrest didn't.

Personally, I think Hunter endorses his fellow vet, McCain.

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That makes sense to me. However , I can't see McCain finishing 3rd in Iowa. If he does it wont matter since NH is next...

Plus, in theory, McCain should be held back by having no money and by having his organization fall apart this summer.

I don't know that he can capitalize on this new momentum.

hardly. doing well in Iowa and New Hampshire does not resonate everywhere. Ultimately, his message won't get him the presidency. End of discussion. He's a good VP candidate, however.

That's true, but given that Huck has nothing to run on as far as his record is concerned, he better go for those endorsements.

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