DES MOINES – Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), riding high in Iowa atop strong poll numbers, said that despite being significantly outspent by his rivals, he and his supporters will send a “seismic shock” through the political class if he wins Iowa.

“It’s a remarkable story. If we finish second or if… we finish third, it’s a remarkable story,” he said. “I think we will make political history one week from today probably one way or another.”

With just a week to go, Huckabee told a group of about 1,000 conservatives at a “We the People” event here, that if they turn out to support him and he takes the first contest of the year, they will “utterly confound the political class in this country.”

The former governor said in a press conference afterwards that when the dust settles from the Jan. 3 caucuses, he will have been outspent by chief rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, by a ratio of “20 to 1.”

Huckabee said Romney’s aggressive ad campaign in Iowa, which is designed to bring attention to Huckabee’s record on crime and immigration as governor, is “desperate and dishonest.”

“If the polls are to be believed… it doesn’t look like he’s getting his money’s worth,” Huckabee said. “It’s got to be pretty disappointing for him.”

Huckabee, who came from the back of the pack in November to lead in Iowa, led a tired, hot crowd through a long speech, but he appeared to keep them engaged throughout.

The former governor continues to draw more laugh lines than applause lines at his speeches, but he made it clear Thursday night that he had done his homework with regards to the day’s biggest headline – the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Huckabee came out flatfooted weeks ago when he told reporters he was not aware of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) saying that Iran appeared to have halted its efforts to arm itself atomically, despite the fact that the NIE report was the leading news story of the day.

Thursday, Huckabee mentioned Bhutto several times. When he was asked during the press conference about Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) use of the day’s events to suggest that he, not Huckabee, is more qualified to deal with foreign affairs, the former governor said McCain shouldn’t play “political games” with the tragedy.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to respond in a political way,” Huckabee said. “I think it’s a time for us to express outrage and sympathy for the people of Pakistan.”

Observers who stayed after Huckabee’s speech were treated to a glimpse of how the former governor is hoping to get supporters to caucus sites despite his lack of traditional financial or organizational strengths.

Bob Vander Plaats, Huckabee’s Iowa chairman, challenged the crowd to “change the world” and caucus. He reminded them of the rules of caucusing, challenged them to reach out to everyone in their “database” and assured them that it is not a confusing process.

“Showing up’s the biggest complication,” Vander Plaats said.