NEW YORK – Even though Mike Huckabee is still battling for the Republican presidential nomination despite long odds, he said Saturday he won’t “overstay his welcome.”

Then he did precisely that, lingering on the “Weekend Update” set of “Saturday Night Live” despite repeated cues to leave the stage.

The former Arkansas governor appeared in a “Weekend Update” segment in which he described his confusion over whether it is mathematically impossible for him to win the nomination over front-runner John McCain. After anchorman Seth Meyers explained the numbers, Huckabee responded: “I’m not a math guy, I’m more of a miracle guy. So at this point I’m gonna focus on the miracle part.”

However, he said: “Mike Huckabee does not overstay his welcome. When it’s time for me to go, I’ll know. And I’ll exit out with class and grace.”

Then he remained seated at the “Update” desk even though Meyers made it clear it was time for him to leave.

“SNL,” known for its political humor, has been on the sidelines for nearly four months because of the Writers Guild of America strike. The political landscape has changed a great deal since then, with easy targets for the show’s satire, like Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, dropping out of the Republican race, and Barack Obama overtaking Hillary Rodham Clinton on the Democratic side.

The last time NBC broadcast a new episode of “SNL,” on Nov. 3, Obama played himself as a guest at a party thrown by Hillary and Bill Clinton. McCain hosted an episode of the show in 2002; Giuliani hosted in 1997, when he was mayor of New York City.