This poll has Huck's lead at 9 in Iowa (Newsweek's poll taken from calls on December 5/6 had Huck's lead at 22 points.) Key findings:
In the Republican race, Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, led former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by 31 percent to 22 percent, according to the poll.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee were next with 9 percent each, followed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas. They each had 7 percent.
Reps. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., and Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., had 2 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
Twelve percent of the Republican respondents said they were undecided.
The poll also indicated an unsettled electorate, with 23 percent of Democrats and 34 percent of Republicans saying they were likely or very likely to change their minds before the caucuses.
Politico.com ends Huck's very bad week with this headline:
Huck's gift-givers ended up in state posts Opening graphs:
Mike Huckabee accepted more than 90 gifts from 21 Arkansans he appointed to state posts during his decade as governor, a Politico analysis of state public records found.
Since setting his sights on the White House, those supporters, their families and their companies have kept on giving. They contributed nearly $161,000 to a pre-presidential campaign account and Huckabee's official campaign committee since late last year, according to state and federal campaign finance records.
Huckabee’s gifts became issues in his two gubernatorial campaigns as his opponents tried to stoke voter doubts about his judgment and ethics. As he surges in Iowa and nationally, Huckabee’s primary rivals are expected to make similar arguments.
Now Ed Rollins arrives on Team Huckabee to do for this Mike waht he did for Mike Huffington.
UPDATE: The Mystery Pollster explains more about Iowa polling than you ever thought you'd know --or need. (HT: Campaign Standard, which also has a Richeleiu post predicting diaster for Rudy.)
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