What has suspected is now out in the open. Rudy and Huckabee are officially in cohoots, and the Democrats are purposefully leaving Huckabee alone in hopes he will win the nomination (scoop to www.mymanmitt).

Rudy and Huckabee:

Advisors to Mr Giuliani told The Sunday Telegraph that they were deliberately refraining from public criticism of Mr Huckabee, despite his increasing popularity, in the hope that he can derail their mutual rivals, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.

Mr Huckabee, a folksy Baptist minister who is drawing support from the party’s evangelical base, has also gone out of his way to be polite about Mr Giuliani, even though his views on abortion, gun control and gay rights are anathema to Mr Huckabee’s religious supporters...

However, some Giuliani supporters are concerned that pulling their punches on Mr Huckabee could allow him to build up enough momentum to become a threat to their own candidate’s stuttering campaign. Although he has no serious support in New Hampshire, he could use a strong showing in Iowa as the springboard for victory in South Carolina, the gateway to the South where his Baptist credentials will serve him well. And recent polls have also shown him on the rise in Florida - the keystone of the Giuliani strategy.

Former Giuliani speechwriter Fred Siegel told The Sunday Telegraph: “Right now, Huckabee is an unmitigated Godsend for Rudy. They have a shared interest in not attacking each other right now, but if Huckabee threatens to upset the apple cart in Florida, then the gloves will be off for the Giuliani campaign. Florida is his firewall.”

Gov. Huckabee, how do you think your supporters will feel when you hand the nomination to a pro-abortion, pro-gay rights, pro-gun control Rudy?

And for the Democrats (from the Drudge Report):

Democrat party officials are avoiding any and all criticism of Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee, insiders reveal. The Democratic National Committee has told staffers to hold all fire, until he secures the party's nomination. The directive has come down from the highest levels within the party, according to a top source.

Within the DNC, Huckabee is known as the "glass jaw -- and they're just waiting to break it." In the last three weeks since Huckabee's surge kicked in, the DNC hasn't released a single press release criticizing his rising candidacy. The last DNC press release critical of Huckabee appeared back on March 2nd.

[DNC Press Release Attack Summary:
Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) – 37% (99 press releases)
Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY) – 28% (74)
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) – 24% (64)
Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) – 8% (20)
Governor Mike Huckabee – 2% (4)]

In fact, as the story broke over the weekend that Huckabee said he wanted to isolate AIDS patients back in 1992, the DNC ignored the opportunity to slam the candidate from the left.

"He'll easily be their McGovern, an easy kill," mocked one senior Democrat operative Tuesday morning from Washington. "His letting out murderers because they shout 'Jesus', his wanting to put 300,000 AIDS patients and Magic Johnson into isolation, ain't even scratching the surface of what we've got on him."

The discipline the Democrats have shown in not engaging Huckabee has earned the praise of one former Republican Party official: "The Democrats are doing a much better job restraining themselves than the GOP did in 2003 when Howard Dean looked like he was on the brink of winning the nomination."

And how do Huckabee supporters feel with the opportunity to hand the White House to the Democrats?