Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee spoke in San Francisco today at a Commonwealth Club-sponsored question and answer session that was briefly disrupted by anti-war protesters.

The former Arkansas governor addressed an audience of more than 70 people, outlining his views on a number of issues and repeating his intention to stay in the primary.

Arguing for the abolishment of the IRS, humility in relations with Europe, and forceful diplomacy with Middle Eastern nations surrounding Iraq, Huckabee punctuated serious answers with jokes.

He also called for less divisive politics, arguing that excessive partisanship has “paralyzed” Congress.

“We have way too much of what I call ‘horizontal politics’—everything is left/right, liberal/conservative, Democrat/Republican,” Huckabee said.

“I’m a conservative Republican. I don’t believe that liberal Democrats are wrong all the time. I don’t think Republicans are right all the time,” he said.

During the talk, two women stood up on their seats, holding pink and black anti-war signs.

“What about the children of Iraq, governor?” one of them called out. “Governor, let’s promote democracy in Iraq and bring the troops home.”

Some members of the audience shouted at the protesters to “shut up” as they were removed from the room by event staff. Huckabee was unruffled, however.

“The beauty of America is that a person, even a person who makes a disruption, is not taken out and summarily executed," he quipped.