At least a thousand people crammed into a ballroom at the Sheraton Hotel, many of them saying they'd turned out strictly to hear the former Arkansas governor and ordained Baptist minister now soaring in the polls.

Later, organizer Mike Waechter said the people who put the event together know each other through Quixtar, but that the company neither sponsored the event nor endorsed Huckabee. He said Alticor, the Quixtar and Amway parent whose founders have a history of conservative activism, also wasn't implying any endorsement.

In the Sheraton ballroom, many of the attendees, Quixtar participants and other invitees, were clearly behind Huckabee. Several said they plan to raise their hands for him when the Iowa caucuses convene on Thursday. And they didn't want to pass up the chance to hear him speak.

Amway was behind the rumors trying to imply a connection between Proctor & Gamble and satanism years ago.