"You never quit," Janet Huckabee tells Kirkland crowd

In Kirkland, Janet Huckabee, wife of Republican candidate Mike Huckabee, appeared today before a standing-room-only crowd of about 400 people who spilled out of an auditorium at Northwest University, a Christian college near Interstate 405.

Huckabee said there was an obvious answer to the obvious question: Why is her husband still in the presidential race, despite his trailing position behind Sen. John McCain?

"You just never know. People deserve a choice," she said. "The final buzzer hasn't rung. You never quit."

Huckabee said that viewpoint has been reflected throughout the lives that she and her husband have led, from her fight against cancer as a teenager to her husband's recent battle against diabetes.

She particularly stressed how her husband has persisted in his campaign, overcoming long odds to remain a candidate, and recalling how a year ago there were more than a dozen hopeful GOP contenders for the White House.

"Mike is the only one with the actual experience of running a government," she said. Mike Huckabee is the former governor of Arkansas.

"He's still running. We're going to do that until we're beaten or we're sworn in," she said. "Our chances are as good as they've ever been."

Huckabee said she had no idea whether her husband would consider a bid to become vice president, and he hasn't been asked.

"Right now, we're still looking to move into the White House," she said.

Huckabee even joked about how her maiden name was McCain, but she's not related to the leading GOP presidential candidate, and suggestions that there might be a McCain-Huckabee ticket are kind of old hat.

"Well, we did that 33 ½ years ago," she said, drawing a laugh from the audience as she explained that's how long she and her husband have been married.

Peyton Whitely: 206-464-2259 or pwhitely@seattletimes.com