Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said he is staying in the race to ensure that issues the party ``had better be addressing,'' like controlling U.S. borders and reforming the tax code, are discussed.

``Those are the reasons I'm hanging in there'' Huckabee, 52, said today. ``The foot soldiers of the Republican Party, the conservatives in the Republican Party, need to make sure their voices aren't shut out.''

If the party isn't ``clear and articulate'' about such issues, ``we're going to have a real tough time in November,'' Huckabee said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

Arizona Senator John McCain beat Huckabee yesterday in contests in Wisconsin and Washington State. With those victories, McCain added to his lead of about 600 delegates over the former Arkansas governor.

Huckabee scoffed at the notion that his staying in the race hurts Republicans by preventing McCain from starting a general election campaign. The idea that Americans ``can't afford to have an election, we just need to have a coronation'' is ``the most un-American, un-Republican kind of comment and attitude I think I've ever heard,'' he said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nadine Elsibai in Washington at nelsibai@bloomberg.net; Peter Cook in Washington at pcook6@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 20, 2008 08:49 EST