Huckabee hoping for Iowa effect in New Hampshire

MIKE HUCKABEE, who won the Republican Iowa caucuses, said he expects the victory to boost his campaign in New Hampshire as voters support candidates who promise change.

“What happened in both parties last night is a real indication of how this country feels: They want change,” said Mr Huckabee. “We’re going to see a major uptick in the poll numbers in the next few days.”

Mr Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor who barely registered in the polls a few months ago, claimed 34% of the Republican vote in Iowa, beating former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, with 25%.

Mr Huckabee, a Baptist minister, has roiled the alliance of social and free-market conservatives that has been at the core of the Republican party since Ronald Reagan won the presidency in 1980.

Having criticised President George W Bush’s foreign policy as “arrogant’ and assailed Wall Street economic conservatives, Mr Huckabee emerged as an anti-Republican establishment candidate. Yesterday, he sought to temper his populist criticisms of businesses and free trade, emphasising points on regulation, litigation and patent protections that are in line with mainstream business groups such as the US Chamber of Commerce.

“The best thing that government can do is get out of the way, let business function,” said Mr Huckabee.

“Let that guy with an idea that he sketches on a kitchen napkin, let him have a chance at it: cut the tax burden on him, cut the excessively difficult litigation that makes it so hard for small businesses to get a business off the ground.

“Free trade is one of the best things that could happen to an economy,” said Mr Huckabee. “But that free trade also needs to respect the intellectual property rights and must also respect human rights.”

Mr Huckabee said donations have increased and his campaign is “nimble’ enough to capitalise on his victory in Iowa. Before the Iowa results, John McCain and Mr Romney were locked in a neck-and-neck race in New Hampshire.

An CNN/WMUR poll showed Mr McCain overcame Mr Romney’s lead in the state, with each getting 29% support.