McCain all but locks up GOP nod as Romney bows out
CAMPAIGN '08 | Seeks to mend tattered ties with conservatives 2008 RACE | But does the man have the GOP? Support in doubt even with Romney out
WASHINGTON -- John McCain is on the brink of securing the Republican Party presidential nomination that eluded him eight years ago and seemed far out of reach last summer.
The Arizona senator all but clinched the nod Thursday as Mitt Romney bowed out of a bruising yearlong fight.
''We're continuing campaigning and not taking anything for granted,'' McCain said, still reluctant to call himself anything more than the front-runner. ''I certainly think that we have enhanced our chances."
Romney's departure -- and, with it, McCain's elevation -- marked the latest chapter in an extraordinary story line over the last year.
McCain went from casting himself as the inevitable Republican nominee as the race began to finding his campaign broke and unraveled last summer. Essentially starting from scratch, McCain pressed ahead and prevailed in New Hampshire. Then came hard-fought victories in South Carolina and Florida. A coast-to-coast Super Tuesday primary rout followed, leaving Romney little choice but to end his bid.
Now, only Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul remain in what had been a crowded and wide-open nomination fight. Both have narrow voting constituencies and are far behind in the hunt for delegates.
That leaves McCain, whose independent streak rankles many in the Republican rank-and-file, poised to assume President Bush's position as the party standard-bearer. As Romney withdrew, McCain sought to mend his tattered relationship with conservatives and unify a splintered GOP. A parade of prominent Republicans swung behind his candidacy.
''It is my sincere hope that even if you believe I have occasionally erred in my reasoning as a fellow conservative, you will still allow that I have, in many ways important to all of us, maintained the record of a conservative,'' McCain told a gathering of the party's influential right flank Thursday, hours after Romney told the same group he was ending his campaign.
Said Romney, ''I must now stand aside, for our party and our country.
''If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win.''
One prominent conservative was not swayed by McCain's appeal. James Dobson, an evangelical Christian leader, endorsed Huckabee Thursday night.