CNN’s Campbell Brown interviewed Mike Huckabee earlier tonight. Transcript follows…

BROWN: And we want to go now to Governor Mike Huckabee, who is
joining us.

Are you there, Governor?

HUCKABEE: I’m right here, Campbell. Thank you very much.

BROWN: Well, thank you. We appreciate your time tonight. And I
should say, some bold predictions from you in your speech about a few
minutes ago what the future may hold for you tonight. Things have been
going surprisingly well for you, winning Arkansas and West Virginia.
And you’re running very strong in a number of other states. How are you
feeling, overall?

HUCKABEE: We’re feeling great. I mean, this was a big day for us.
And it proved that we’re still in this. We’ve been saying that for a
long time. You know, we took some blows. Some people saying we had
pulled out of Florida when we didn’t, tried to sort of say our campaign
was faltering. We never believed that it was. We were seeing record
fund-raising going on, record crowds, enthusiasm. And we knew it wasn’t
anywhere near coming to a close. It was just getting really started.
And tonight I think we’re seeing that affirmation.

BROWN: But Governor, you may have exceeded expectations tonight,
but it is highly unlikely that you’re going to get the nomination, and
you certainly knew that coming into tonight. So why stay in the race?

HUCKABEE: I’m not sure I would say it’s so unlikely that we’ll get
the nomination. No one’s got 1191 delegates yet, and until they do,
we’re still in it. Nobody thought the New York Giants were going to be
the Super Bowl champions, and everybody had all those hats painted up
with the Patriots. Guess what? Those are a real bargain today. You
can get a lot of Super Bowl hats with the Patriots insignia on it for a
deal.

So don’t be too quick to say it’s over, because it’s not over until
the final bell has sounded. And it hasn’t yet.

BROWN: So you are going to stay in this race until there is a
nominee.

HUCKABEE: Why not? The one way I know I’ll lose, if I walk off the
field. Campbell, I’ve spent my life coming up from the bottom. I’ve
never known what it’s like to start from the top. I’ve never been the
favorite. I know what it’s like to start deep in the hole. And I also
know what it feels like to go from deep in the hole to the top of the
mountain.

And it’s a mighty tough journey sometimes, and you don’t always make
it. But when you do make it, it’s worth it. And there are a lot of
people in America who want to believe that they, too, can go from deep
in the hole to the top of the mountain in their own life. And I think
my candidacy is restoring that kind of hope and optimism in a lot of
people.

BROWN: Let me ask you about West Virginia, because, as you know,
there have been some suggestions that there was a sort of a back-room
deal between your supporters and John McCain’s supporters to ensure that
Romney would not win West Virginia. He was leading after the first
ballot. Is there any truth to that? Has there been any communication
between your campaign and John McCain’s campaign in the last few days?

HUCKABEE: I have not talked to Senator McCain or people on his
staff about West Virginia. You know, every time we win something,
somebody tries to figure out a way to explain it away. Truth is, people
voted for me. They had a chance to win for somebody else. And when
they didn’t vote for — or, when their candidate, either John McCain or
Ron Paul, didn’t get the votes on the first ballot and they had to pick
somebody else, they picked me. It’s as simple as that. I think it
shows that, when this party wants to come together, it looks to somebody
they know can carry the message. People in West Virginia believed I
could do it.

You know, yesterday, Mitt Romney was saying, Don’t be a whiner. Now,
yesterday he was against whining, today, he’s for whining.

So I think we just need to say, We won West Virginia, and he’ll just
have to deal with it.

BROWN: All right. Well, Governor Huckabee, we do wish you the best
of the luck for the rest of the night and going forward from here.
Thank you very much for your time tonight. Appreciate it.

HUCKABEE: Thank you.