Campaign '08

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS) ― Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was heckled by protestors during a speech before the nonpartisan Commonwealth Club of San Francisco on Thursday.

Members of the anti-war group Code Pink shouted down the former Arkansas governor while he was talking about his tax plan; two women stood up on chairs demanding an end to the war in Iraq. One of the women was carried out of the Fairmont Hotel ballroom moments later on the shoulder of a security guard.

The affable, engaging Huckabee remained relentlessly optimistic as he took note of the disruption.

"Let's not be angry at that person," he said. "Let's just be grateful that once more we are reminded how grateful we ought to be to be citizens of the United States of America."

He continued: "The beauty of America is that a person can come and even make a disruption, and you know what, that person is not going to be taken out and shot."

Meantime, Huckabee on Thursday also brushed off predictions that he would bow out of the GOP presidential nominating contest, but dropped new hints that he'd prefer John McCain to Mitt Romney as the party's eventual pick.

Huckabee, who hasn't won a caucus or primary since Iowa, emphatically dismissed the suggestion that the GOP race was a two-man contest, with Rudy Giuliani out of it and questions about whether he was sticking it out to angle for a running mate spot.

"I'm staying in the race because I still think I can win," he told the enthusiastic audience of about 170 people at the Fairmont. 

"When people say, 'Why aren't you going to drop out?' I look at the two other guys and say, 'Why don't they drop out?'"

Huckabee also was scornful of the idea apparently from Romney's camp that he would siphon votes away from Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, and thus help ensure McCain wins the nomination.

"I think it's pretty desperate when you say a vote for Mike Huckabee is a vote for John McCain. A vote for Huckabee is a vote for Huckabee," the former Arkansas governor said. "If Mitt Romney can't understand how electoral politics works, maybe that explains why he has spent so much money and doesn't have a lot to show for it."

Huckabee made other unflattering comments about Romney: "Look how much money he spent to get the same market share as I did I would say my message is selling better than his."

But he had nary a negative word about McCain. Huckabee said he'd gone out of his way to congratulate McCain on his big endorsements from Giuliani and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and joked that McCain should leave some endorsement crumbs for him.

Huckabee said he'd be glad to capture some big-name Republican endorsements, but told reporters after the event, "I've never been the pick of the establishment. I probably will never be. That's OK, Ronald Reagan wasn't either."

Huckabee basked appreciatively in the audience's frequent applause, and said he had no problem campaigning in a liberal bastion such as San Francisco because Arkansas had a state Legislature controlled by Democrats when he was governor.

"I would like to think in San Francisco, a city that prizes tolerance, they would be tolerant of a Republican running for president, too," he said.

Stressing that contests in delegate-rich Midwest and Southern states where he has strong support are still to come, Huckabee pointed to the reversal of fortunes for Giuliani, who was the party's presumptive front-runner last summer while McCain's campaign was struggling.

"Nobody is inevitable until all the votes are in," he later told reporters.

Huckabee, who campaigned in Southern California on Wednesday and headed to San Diego after his San Francisco storp, said he also would focus on picking up delegates in states where they are awarded proportionally, including California.

"I don't know if I can win the whole state. But I think there are places in the state I can win like San Diego, Orange County, where I was yesterday," he said.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)