The latest national polls put religious conservative Mike Huckabee in the GOP's number-two spot, and hot on the heels of front-runner Rudy Giuliani. Huckabee's surge might be traced to the current Jupiter-Pluto conjunction, which favors religious themes. All the top-tier candidates have recently made statements about how their beliefs and politics might interact – most notably, Mitt Romney's speech last week about his Mormonism.
 
Although Mike Huckabee was born with his Sun in self-effacing Virgo (August 24, 1955; Hope, Arkansas; time unknown), his Venus-Mars-Pluto triple conjunction in late Leo adds plenty of confident, mission-oriented optimism to his candidacy, with Venus providing the folksy, likeable, southern charm. Over the last few months of his spectacular rise, slow-moving Pluto has been favorably trine his triple conjunction in Leo.
 
Huckabee's Jupiter in Leo is exceptionally significant in his natal chart with its close square to Saturn in Scorpio. In the religious sense, it's about knowing the difference between living faith and dead ritual. In the current campaign, Huckabee has gone from no hope (Saturn) to potential winner (Jupiter). Next week, Jupiter enters Capricorn and trines his Virgo Sun just before the Iowa caucus on January 3, a very promising sign.
 
In terms of his connection with the American people, his progressed Jupiter at 25º Leo opposes the U.S. Moon**, so that he taps into the religious faction, including the 40 percent of Iowa Republicans who call themselves evangelicals. As transiting Jupiter moves deeper into Capricorn, Huckabee's strength will probably wane, unless he can broaden his appeal. However, with Pluto entering Capricorn and trining his Sun, he may remain as a power-broker within the GOP, a king-maker representing the religious right.

** In the U.S. Scorpio Rising horoscope, the Moon is at 25º Aquarius. For a detailed analysis of how candidates' charts must align with the U.S. Moon to win, see http://neptunecafe.com/USPresidents.html.