The Biggest Loser Poised for Big Win

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has made headlines with his eat-fresh childhood obesity prescriptions and his own 110-pound weight loss, but it's not his personal Biggest Loser victory that has Democrats taking notice. They think this 2008 dark horse presidential candidate is poised to gobble up his GOP opponents and win the Republican nomination. A preliminary internal review of Huckabee by the Dems says: "With national Republicans in disarray and the GOP base angry and demoralized, Huckabee may be the best positioned to run as a true Washington outsider." It's a winning pattern: Bill Clinton, another Hope, Ark., kid, did the same thing back in 1992.

Republicans are also paying attention. One important look-see came from top Republican Party fundraiser and cosmetics magnate Georgette Mosbacher, who was Sen. John McCain's national campaign cochair in 2000. The Borghese exec hosted a fundraiser at her New York home for Huck and was wowed by his weight-loss story. "It's something so many Americans can relate to, particularly baby boomers," she tells us. But, she adds, he might have only regional appeal, and "we don't need another southern state." Conservatives are also studying him, more wowed by his pro-family stances than his occasional tax hikes. All of which make him a top vice presidential pick if he doesn't break out.