Rudy hearts Huckabee

Rudy Giuliani isn't ready to start weighing possible running mates, but when he was asked today about the most mentioned No. 2 -- Mike Huckabee -- he had only nice things to say.

"I don't know about running mates, but I sure like having him at the debates, because he makes me laugh," Giuliani said in an interview being broadcast this afternoon on "Your World with Neil Cavuto" on Fox News Channel.

"And he has got a nice approach to life," the former New York mayor continued, according to excerpts provided by Fox. "You know, he is a man that is -- he has got a happy approach and he has got an optimistic approach to life. And then I -- you know, I have great respect for him."

Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, isn't ready to settle for the second slot. He's moving up in the polls in Iowa and still hopes to become the conservative alternative to Giuliani.

In the interview, Giuliani also had some back-handed praise for a tax reform plan proposed by US Representative Charles Rangel, who wants to increase taxes on the wealthy to, among other things, get rid of the alternative minimum tax that is starting to hit middle-class families because of inflation. Giuliani and other Republicans deride the plan as a huge tax increase that will harm the economy.

"I respect Charlie Rangel for doing it," Giuliani said. "I think he set forth Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and John Edwards's dreams. I mean, this is what they want to do....Well, he put the price tag on their promises....None of them rejected it, because they're going to do it. And they're going to do it more than they're saying."