Novak: Huckabee not in top tier, but standing improved with second place finish in straw poll

In his assessment of Saturday's Iowa straw poll, columnist Robert Novak says former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has positioned himself well in the presidential race:

Huckabee's claims that he is now "in the first tier" are overblown. However, he has jostled ahead of Brownback and is currently the point man for the Christian conservative bloc of GOP voters, an important and underserved part of Republican primary voters. (Huckabee and Brownback combined for more votes than Romney won.) The chief upside of the second-place finish for Huckabee has been the glowing media attention he has garnered. Affable and sincere -- and more important, seemingly harmless -- Huckabee is treated well by the media that certainly don't share most of his views.