Huckabee: GOP tent can 'be big,' but NY-23 was a 'train wreck'

"I continually remind people, if you really don't like what either of the parties are doing – and there are a lot of people who don't – pick one that you like a little more than you like the other, that you hate the least, get involved in it, and change it," Huckabee said.

In Florida, a hot GOP primary race is developing for the US Senate between moderate former Gov. Charlie Crist and conservative former state House Speaker Marco Rubio. Huckabee is backing Mr. Rubio, who is Cuban American. "He's the face and future of the Republican Party," Huckabee says.

Huckabee called the primary process healthy. "It helps us sort out who we are," he says.

Since his presidential campaign, which caught fire for a while – he won the Iowa caucuses – Huckabee has been a weekend talk show host on Fox, on the lecture circuit, and writing. He came to the breakfast to hawk his new book, "A Simple Christmas: Twelve Stories that Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit."

But as he prepares to embark on a 64-city tour to promote the book, which he calls nonpolitical, isn't it possible that he's setting the stage for another presidential run in 2012? "That's really not the case," he said, adding that he won't focus on his political future until 2010 is over. "It's ridiculous to speculate about 2012 now."

In the meantime, he's happy to share his political views. He was thrilled by the result of Tuesday's referendum in Maine, which overturned a state law legalizing same-sex marriage.

"It just goes to show that even in a very, very liberal state like Maine, where the governor himself and the legislature came out and supported it, when the people have the chance to affirm traditional marriage, they do it," Huckabee says. "Thirty-one out of 31 states. It's a batting average there that has no equal."

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See also:

Election results hearten Republicans, deal blow to Obama

Atlanta mayor's election and race in politics: murky results

For gay marriage, difficult terrain ahead

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