clipped from: www.nysun.com WASHINGTON — As the Republican presidential race devolves into a five-man free-for-all of sustained attacks and sharp rejoinders, one pair of candidates, Mayor Giuliani and Michael Huckabee, has avoided direct conflict, exchanging more compliments than criticism.
The comments only add to the perception that even as he rises in the polls, Mr. Huckabee is angling for the vice presidential slot on the Republican ballot, should Mr. Giuliani win the nomination. As an affable Southerner with a solidly conservative record on social issues, Mr. Huckabee could provide precisely the kind of geographic and political balance needed for a ticket topped by an occasionally abrasive New Yorker who supports abortion rights, analysts say.