Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee compared his campaign Monday to that of another former Arkansas governor Bill Clinton, who was hardly a front-runner when he started his ultimately successful run for the White House.
"Clinton was not deterred," Huckabee said Monday as he started a two-day fundraising tour of North Carolina. "He didn't stop when people were saying that nobody was going to nominate an unknown, southern governor."
Clinton joined the Democratic field late in 1991, then went on to place a strong second in the 1992 New Hampshire primary before dominating the Super Tuesday voting to emerge as the nominee. Pundits and polls have placed Huckabee in the lower tier of the 2008 Republican field.
"For those who believe that this race is only going to be about a bunch of popular candidates, I point them back to the Bill Clinton race," Huckabee said.
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"This is like a NASCAR race," he said. "The key for us is keeping four tires on the track. We're not worried about being a front-runner this early in the race."