By Michelle Westgate
Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) kept his word: He stayed in the race until a winner was called.
On Tuesday night, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) earned enough delegates to guarantee him the Republican nomination for the national election and in Texas, Huckabee told a crowd of supporters that he congratulated McCain, acknowledging him as the GOP nominee for president.
“Senator McCain has run an honorable campaign, because he’s an honorable man,” Huckabee said. “I’m grateful for the manner in which he has conducted his campaign.” Huckabee and McCain have had a fairly quiet race, both in agreement that the nation should work together to achieve common goals. Huckabee urged his supporters to forget about the past and look to the future. His message was about party unity, with an emphasis on patriotism.
“I hope that our battle was never about us. It was about our country and liberty,” Huckabee said.
When Huckabee entered the race, very few people expected him to be one of the final top candidates. But when Huckabee won the Iowa caucuses, suddenly he was taken seriously by the other Republican candidates, and he was the last major opponent standing against McCain.
“We’ve done so because so many of you worked beyond your capacity,” he told supporters.
The Huckabee campaign has had very little monetary support, and a staff of only 30 people. However, they took the party by surprise when they began to win southern states during early primaries.
On Feb. 5, dubbed “Super Tuesday.” Huckabee won five states, bringing him within reach of Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.). “People have been trying to say that this is a two-man race. Well, you know what? It is. And we’re in it,” Huckabee said that night.
He was right.
After Romney withdrew from the race in early February, that left McCain and Huckabee as the two front-runners for the Republicans. However, McCain had a strong lead with the delegates, and many speculated that Huckabee could not catch up. Party members encouraged Huckabee to drop out of the race. He refused.
“One of the things that we will be able to say is not only that we fought the good fight and finished the race,” Huckabee said during his farewell speech. “We stayed in until the race was over.”