Just when Republicans appeared to be narrowing in on a choice between a former New York City mayor and a former Massachusetts governor for their party’s nomination for president, along comes a man from Hope. Hope, Ark., that is. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee can’t build a campaign slogan around that pun – it was used by former President Bill Clinton, who also hailed from Hope – but he is enjoying a surge in hope in his quest for the White House.

Recent polls among those likely to participate in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3 show Gov. Huckabee closely trailing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. In a field that already includes candidates with dubious claims to the Ronald Reagan mantle of true conservatism, Gov. Huckabee offers interesting views, some more to the middle of the road, some conservative.

He has said middle-class Americans, not the investor class, should be the true barometer of the U.S. economy. In an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, Gov. Huckabee said: “I’m not a candidate who was born on third base and thought he hit a triple. … I’ve come up the hard way,” an apparent swipe at the current president. “I’m the only Republican that’s saying the economy, while doing great for the people on Wall Street, is not necessarily translating down to the guys handling the bags and selling the tickets and serving you Cokes on the airplane. And there’s just a whole lot of folks out there wondering if they’re going to keep their jobs.”

On energy policy, Gov. Huckabee calls for independence from foreign oil in 10 years, not in 20 or 30 years, as called for by other candidates. And on MSNBC, he went so far as to suggest buying Saudia Arabian oil was tantamount to financing both sides of the war on terrorism.

As an ordained Baptist minister, Gov. Huckabee’s views on abortion and gay marriage spring from his Christian values, which may be where he is out of step with the general electorate. But here he scores points with the Christian Right, which is looking for a viable candidate it can embrace.

Conservative columnist Robert Novak claims Gov. Huckabee is not a true conservative, saying that until recently, he has flown under the radar as “an underfunded, unknown nuisance candidate.” Now that Gov. Huckabee is a contender, Novak argues he should be exposed for his “high-tax, protectionist, big-government advocate” ways.

Perhaps. But if history is any predictor, a moderate, populist-sounding southern governor may be better poised to win the White House than a hard-line conservative. Republicans would do well to give Gov. Huckabee a second, or first, look. At the very least, his ascendancy in the race for the nomination will sharpen the other top-tier candidates.