NORTH LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — They should own this state's primary on Tuesday, but Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mike Huckabee have turned up to campaign among old friends in Arkansas in recent days, returning out of political caution and a recognition that even local favorites have enemies.
Arkansas' prizes -- 35 Democratic delegates and 31 Republican delegates are at stake this week -- hardly compare with the riches of New York or California or other Super Tuesday states. But for Clinton and Huckabee, the state offers real and symbolic lucre.
Both presidential candidates made only rare appearances in Arkansas in recent months, and their sudden reemergence here last week showed how keenly they would like to rack up a seeming sure thing -- and avoid an embarrassing loss in a place so connected to their political pasts.
For Clinton, whose ties to Arkansas stretch from her days as a Rose Law Firm attorney through her stint as Gov. Bill Clinton's first lady, a win would show that she can muster Southern support after her devastating loss last month to Barack Obama in South Carolina.
"Hillary's seen as a candidate of the coasts," said Jay Barth, an associate professor of politics at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark. "She needs another part of the country to show legitimate ties to. Arkansas fits that bill."
For Huckabee, whose state GOP career here climaxed with 10 1/2 years as a popular governor, a victory might prolong his fading national effort. "If he wants to play a broker's role at the convention, he needs Arkansas to come through for him," said Rex Nelson, a former Huckabee aide.
Tuesday's winners will take the majority of delegates in each party, but a strong second-place finish by challengers could also reap delegates because of a potential for proportional allotments in the state's congressional districts.
Huckabee, who lives in North Little Rock, bases his campaign headquarters across the Arkansas River in Little Rock, giving him a logistics nerve center in the state that no other rival's staff can match.
Both candidates have strong state and county organizations at their disposal, and when they returned for brief campaign stops last week, both showed how easily they could mobilize adoring crowds at a moment's notice.
