Former Republican Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's three-day swing through the Palmetto State cleared a wide swath of political agendas.
There was the tailgating stop at the Clemson-USC football game in Columbia where he tried to woo voters with the presence of professional wrestler Ric Flair, who endorsed him recently. Then there were Sunday morning stops at churches in Lexington and Greenville counties where he focused on religion and faith as opposed to the presidential race.
Oh, and there was also a stop among hunters in Spartanburg Sunday afternoon, and then finally a radio show this morning that again played to South Carolina evangelicals.
Huckabee is in fifth place in most South Carolina polls, but has a growing support base - half of the 500 people at Fountain Inn First Baptist Church stayed after the service to shake his hand and pose for some photos. In addition, a Rasmussen poll released last week showed Huckabee in fourth place with 12 percent -- only one point behind former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, but nine off the lead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn, who each got 21 percent.