Mike Huckabee, a wise-cracking, guitar-strumming, Baptist pastor has leapt into a conservative void and shot into contention in the unpredictable 2008 Republican White House race. Huckabee, 52, was hitherto best known for being born in the same town, Hope, as Bill Clinton, and shedding more than 100 pounds from his once portly frame. But, partly by exploiting discontent among Christian conservatives with the Republican field, Huckabee, a witty former Arkansas governor, has powered into second place in polls in Iowa, 65 days before the state's crucial caucuses. "The religious right vote in the Iowa caucuses is a substantial bloc, and...