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Huckabee forges ahead, seeks 'miracle' Sunday, Feb 10, 2008 By Aaron Sadler Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - Mike Huckabee vowed to continue his White House bid Saturday, refusing to concede the Republican presidential nomination to Sen. John McCain despite formidable odds. McCain's vast lead in national convention delegates makes it almost impossible for the former Arkansas governor to catch up. Yet Huckabee made clear in a speech to conservative stalwarts he was in the race at least until McCain secures the 1,191 delegates needed to win. Voters in about half the states have yet to cast ballots in presidential primaries and caucuses. "People in those 27 states deserve more than a coronation," Huckabee said at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. "They deserve an election." McCain had 719 delegates pledged to him after landslide victories on Super Tuesday. Mitt Romney had about 280, followed by Huckabee's 198. Romney announced Thursday at the annual meeting of conservatives that he was suspending his presidential campaign. Speaking to the same group two days later, Huckabee adamantly pledged to move forward. "I know what they say, 'Well the math doesn't work out.' Folks, I didn't major in math, I majored in miracles. And I still believe in them," said Huckabee, a Baptist minister. "Across America, everywhere there's a vote to be cast, I'm still standing." Huckabee is now the only GOP candidate left to challenge McCain, after Romney's departure Thursday and Ron Paul's decision late Friday to focus on his congressional re-election bid. Romney said McCain needed a clear path so that he could focus his energy on the general election. Huckabee told reporters Saturday that several top Republicans have asked him to step aside. They were McCain supporters, he said. Huckabee said the Republican nominee will advance to November battle-tested. "I'd like to think the Republican Party is mature enough, big enough and smart enough that it actually knows that competition breeds excellence and the lack of competition breeds mediocrity," he said. Huckabee brushed off suggestions that he was staying in the race to increase his visibility as a possible vice-presidential nominee. Huckabee's success among evangelical and Southern voters may appeal to McCain, though both men have detractors among establishment Republicans. "I'm not having any illusion that Sen. McCain would select me as a running mate or that I would automatically select him as one," he said. "Right now we're both seeking the same office." Huckabee's grassroots supporters are just as undeterred as he is, he said. Over a 24-hour period on Friday the cash-strapped campaign raised more than $250,000 in online donations, setting a record, he said. "I think it's a miracle that I'm here," Huckabee said. "Look at the fact that everybody, perhaps, that has written about this campaign would have written me off months ago. Most did." Huckabee cruised to a win in Kansas' GOP caucuses Saturday, another reason not to count him out, he said. However, there were hundreds of empty seats for Huckabee's 9 a.m. speech Saturday, in contrast to capacity crowds and lines that snaked out the door for his rivals. A few bleary-eyed supporters distributed placards reading "I Like Mike" to spectators right before the speech, yet only about half of the 1,500 or so in attendance were energetic enough to wave them. Huckabee tried to sell his audience on his conservative credentials. Both Huckabee and McCain are disliked by many conservatives, Huckabee mainly for his record on taxes in Arkansas and McCain for being seemingly soft on immigration and abortion rights. After his speech, Huckabee said he stood out from McCain with his commitment to a constitutional amendment to prohibit abortion, his opposition to stem cell research and his pledge to deny illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. He cited a book by conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, "A Choice, Not An Echo," as an item that shaped his conservative identity - and he signaled that the book title would be a theme of the rest of his campaign. Republicans deserve a choice in the race, not someone in an "echo chamber" espousing the views of the front-runner, he said. "It's better to be right and even to not win than it is to be wrong and be part of the crowd," Huckabee said. Schlafly is among Republicans who oppose Huckabee. During his tenure as governor, Schlafly last year said he "destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas." Anti-tax groups dislike Huckabee for the nearly $500 million in new taxes enacted on his watch. Huckabee's campaign was left for dead after a disappointing second-place finish behind McCain in South Carolina, a loss that caused him to abandon the Florida primary and forced key staffers to work without pay. He rebounded last week with victories in five states across the South, including Arkansas. |
