Huckabee ad targets Iowa's Christian bloc

Des Moines, Iowa -- GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee aired a television ad in Iowa depicting a Christian symbol in the background ahead of Thursday's caucuses.

CNN said Wednesday the 30-second spot features Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, addressing the Iowa Christian Alliance against a banner showing the ichthys, a simple fish representation common among evangelicals.

The new ad comes as Huckabee decided not to use negative campaign ads against his closest Republican rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

"The purpose of these ads is to highlight the things that truly matter --
while underscoring my conservative record of leadership and my vision for America moving forward," Huckabee said in a news release Tuesday.

Huckabee supported his opposition to abortion by saying life was "espoused by our founding fathers" and that "being unborn doesn't make you less valuable," the news network said.

He also spoke about "having our values trampled" and said Americans should embrace the core values of "family, life, freedom."

Huckabee countered criticism in late December that suggested his ads subliminally targeted Christian voters in an earlier ad allegedly showing an illuminated cross behind him. The image was actually a bookcase.

The Iowa caucuses, scheduled for Thursday, make up the first steps of the 2008 process to determine the two major U.S. political parties' nominees for president with evangelicals considered a key voting bloc.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.