Huckabee Rising

Like a revivalist preacher riding into town, Mike Huckabee — the former Baptist minister, Arkansas Governor, and long-shot Republican presidential candidate — is hogging the limelight, and sparking a lot of curiosity.

In new polls released this week, he has surged to the top of the GOP field in Iowa, and is virtually tied with Rudy Giuliani nationally.

Now, inevitably, the attacks are starting to fly: A flip-flop on immigration. A pardon for a rapist. A call to quarantine AIDS patients.

What kind of conservative, and what kind of man, is Mike Huckabee? This hour, On Point: the Huckabee surge.Guests:

Michael Isikoff, investigative reporter at Newsweek magazine, he's co-author of this week's cover story, "Holy Huckabee! The Unlikely Rise of a Preacher Politician."

Jim Pinkerton, columnist for Newsday, contributor to the Fox News Channel and a fellow at the New America Foundation, he worked in the White House under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

John Brummett, columnist and reporter for Arkansas News Bureau.

Jonathan Martin, senior political reporter for Politico.com.