But he's going to try to do it without busing in support because all of the buses have been taken over by the other campaigns:
Mike Huckabee does not have buses.Looks like Huckabee won't make it past Ames, I think it's time to start looking around for another backup candidate (in case Thompson's candidacy bombs).
Huckabee needs to get people to the straw poll in Ames this Saturday and even if he had the money for buses — which he doesn’t — there are no buses left to rent.
Everything that moves in Iowa — buses, vans, tractors, combines, horses, mules, and hogs large enough to be saddled — have all been snapped up by the other campaigns.
Mitt Romney has buses, Sam Brownback has buses, Tom Tancredo has buses and Tommy Thompson has buses.
But Mike Huckabee does not have buses.
[...]
After his talk, I interviewed Huckabee and asked him if he is frustrated by what I see as a problem for him: As a personable, pro-life, Southerner with genuine conservative credentials, he would make a good running mate for any of the top-tier Republicans.
“The only reason people talk about me for vice president instead of president is because of money,” he said. “Add money to my campaign, and I am a top presidential contender. It is like Kool-Aid: All you have to do is add water. Well, just add money to my campaign and I am ready to go. And Ames will provide the momentum.”
Huckabee has said he wants to finish in the top three at Ames, but he made clear to me he would have to finish close to the winner to stay in the race. “I think there will be some winnowing out after Ames,” he said.
There has been in the past, but there have never been this many debates on the Republican side before — and some weak candidates could stay in after Ames just to attend debates and get publicity.
Not Huckabee, though.
“Some will stay in to promote an issue and they have a right, but it muddies up the waters,” Huckabee said. “Some will stay in not to get to the White House, but to keep their message alive. Not me.”
