Huckabee feels the heat

Looks like Mike Huckabee is going to fight for the conservative turf, after all:

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says Fred Thompson, who is expected to jump into the 2008 race next month, will have trouble meeting expectations about his candidacy.

Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, finished second in this month's Iowa straw poll but lags nationally among his rivals in fundraising and public support. Thompson, an actor and former Tennessee governor, has polled well in the crowded field despite his unofficial status.

"Let's just hope Fred decides it's just too hot this summer to even do this. Maybe he won't get in," Huckabee said in a broadcast interview Sunday.

"But if he does, I think he's going to suck a lot of the oxygen out of the room when he first comes in. But I'm not sure I'd want to be in his position where the expectations are simply just sky-high for him to be able to perform," Huckabee said.

Sounds like a candidate who is desperately, desperately hoping that Fred Thompson changes his mind. Though I admit, trying to fight the Senator's campaign on the expectations turf is a pretty sounds strategy for Huckabee's campaign, given how much the campaign exceeded expectations at the Iowa Straw Poll...