Before a small but enthusiastic band of supporters cheering, “We Like Mike!” at the Fort Worth Stockyards on Friday, presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said the Republican race was far from decided.

“There are a whole lot of people all over the country who think this race is all over, and they’ve got it figured out that people in New York and New Jersey and California and Connecticut have already decided for you,” Huckabee said. “Texas represents the largest Republican bloc of voters in the country, and it would be a real shame if the people outside of Texas told Texas who they were going to vote for before Texas even got a chance to vote.”

He said he felt no pressure from Republican leaders, such as Texas Governor Rick Perry, telling him to drop out of the race.

“They didn’t get me in the race, so they can’t get me out of the race,” Huckabee said.

He said the delegate count was not clear, so he still had a chance of beating the Republican frontrunner, Arizona Sen. John McCain.

“If we were to drop out, Texas wouldn’t even get to vote, not in the Republican primary,” Huckabee said. “We’re not only going to give Texas their voice and their choice. They give us their vote, and we’ll turn this election around and cause people to rethink which way we’re headed.”

Huckabee said he had a better chance than McCain of defeating Sens. Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in the general presidential election in November.

“I think a lot of Americans are going to vote for a generational change, which I represent,” Huckabee said. “I’m also the only person running for president who actually will offer the kind of contrast that Americans will need to choose from.”

Huckabee also disputed claims that Obama was a true “Washington outsider.”

“Frankly, Obama is a Washington insider – he’s there, he’s part of that scene – I’m the only person who doesn’t have a Washington address,” he said.

“Once people start drilling into the policies that he’s advocating, they’re going to realize that already he’s poured some ideas that are going to cost about $300 billion, and that’s got to come from all you folks out here,” Huckabee said. “I haven’t heard too many people that have come up to me at any of these rallies and said ‘Mike, I just want you to know that I just don’t feel good about the taxes I’m paying. I think I need to pay more.'”

See photos from Huckabee’s rally at the Stockyards

Huckabee said he would lower taxes and limit the role of government. He also said he was the only candidate who wanted a completely new unified sales tax, called the FairTax, to replace the IRS and other taxes, as well as the only supporter of an amendment overturning Roe v. Wade and defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Huckabee said he is the only opponent of amnesty for illegal immigrants.

“I do not believe that it’s government’s job to fix us, I think it’s our job to fix government,” Huckabee said.

When asked what his message to first-time voters would be, Huckabee replied: “One of the things I’ve said to many college students is that this election will affect their lives far more than it will mine. Maybe I’ve got 30, 35 years left. College students have 65 or more years left in their life expectancy. And frankly, it’s far more important that they vote and vote with conviction and a with sense of determination.”

Huckabee said he was the best candidate to deal with the $9 trillion debt of college students because he’s the only candidate with experience of balancing a government budget and creating jobs.

“If I were a college student, I’d say, ‘Do I want to put somebody in Washington, in the White House, who’s proven they don’t know how to get that job done, or somebody who’s proven he can get that job done?'”

After answering questions, Huckabee received a lasso lesson. After several vain attempts, a spectator yelled, “Just pretend it’s Congress!” Huckabee’s wife, Janet, was more successful.

Huckabee said he will be in North Texas on Tuesday night for a results-watching party, though, he said, further arrangements still had to be made.

Caitlyn Reynolds, a senior psychology major, also came to show support, though, she expressed doubts that Huckabee could secure the nomination.

“McCain has too much power,” Reynolds said. “If Huckabee wins Texas, however, he could change that power structure.”

Watch video footage from Huckabee’s rally