Mike Huckabee said Wednesday that he's doing so well in the polls because "people are looking for a presidential candidate who reminds them more of the guy they work with rather than the guy that laid them off."

He made the anti-Romney dig on "The Tonight Show," where he appeared after crossing picket lines of striking TV writers.

After Huckabee claimed earlier in the day that the writers weren't striking "The Tonight Show" -- a claim that wasn't true -- his campaign tried to explain how the populist Republican candidate wasn't really undercutting the writers by appearing with Jay Leno. "The governor would only agree to join Jay, an active member of the Writers Guild, for the taping after he was assured that no replacement writers were being used in the show's production," the campaign said in a press release. "Gov. Huckabee believes that the writers deserve to be fairly compensated for the sale of their work. Governor Huckabee is glad that Jay Leno was able to put his 160 employees back to work and he strongly encourages both sides of the current labor dispute to work diligently toward an equitable solution for all parties involved."

The striking writers weren't buying it. The best sign from the picket line: "Huckabee, you can't deny this cross."