All along the campaign trail yesterday, Mike Huckabee joked that the only reason people came to see him was because of the man who can reputedly slam a revolving door. "I want to share a few comments with you," Huckabee told the lunchroom crowd at the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton, "but first, I want you to have an opportunity to hear and see the man I know you really came out to see."

Then he handed to microphone to Chuck Norris. That's right. Walker, Texas Ranger.

Huckabee's joke was funny because it was, at least partly, true. His popularity has surged since Norris endorsed him in October. Some national polls show the former Arkansas governor second only to Rudy Giuliani among Republicans. While there's no definitive evidence that Norris's endorsement was the golden ticket, there's plenty to suggest that it's helped, especially with young voters.

Take the group of Merrimack Valley High School students who excused themselves from class to trail Huckabee to a wire factory in Boscawen, his first stop. They didn't go to hear him talk about how his plan to abolish the income tax will keep manufacturing jobs in America, although they heard it.

They went to see Chuck Norris, who's a veritable Generation Y superhero.

Norris's popularity can be traced to a website called Chuck Norris Facts, which spouts wisdom such as: Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.

The MV students were bummed when the red-haired martial artist didn't show up at Elektrisola Inc. because his plane was delayed by the snow.

They asked a reporter where Huckabee and Norris were scheduled to go next. Sure enough, the teens were there at the veterans home for the noon event. One of the students, 17-year-old Tyler Ayers, thrust a

digital camera into a reporter's hands when he saw her.

"Check it out!" he said, a giant smile on his pierced lip. "We got our picture taken with him!"

There it was: Chuck Norris with his arms around the teens. Just then, Huckabee and Norris emerged from their tour of the home into the pack of reporters and supporters. As Norris made his way through the crowd, Ayers asked him for his autograph. Norris gave him a trading card instead.

Then the man who - according to legend - counted to infinity - twice - gathered the teens in a shoulder-to-shoulder huddle.

"We need your vote for Mike Huckabee, guys," he told the wide-eyed students. "He's a good guy."

Huckabee, meanwhile, stood outside the ring, like a second-string quarterback not in on the big play. When Norris started talking about how more young people should vote, Huckabee cried "yeah!"

That's the way it went throughout the lunchroom. Norris made the rounds - bending down to talk with men in wheelchairs and grip their hands - while Huckabee trailed behind with his wife and campaign staff. When one of the veterans asked who the men making such a fuss were, a nurse pointed to Norris first. "He's a celebrity," she said. Then, to Huckabee. "And he's a presidential candidate."

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