U.S. ELECTIONS | Guide to the 2008 Election
08 February 2008
With Mitt Romney's Exit, John McCain Presumed Republican Nominee
Republican candidates Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul still in race but far behind
Washington – Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney ended his more than yearlong quest to become the Republican presidential nominee, clearing the way for Arizona Senator John McCain to claim the party’s nomination.
"I entered this race because I love America," Romney told participants in the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington on February 7. "And because I love America, in this time of war, I feel I have to now stand aside, for our party and for our country."
Romney said that it was more important to unify the party than to continue the fight for the nomination. He said that extending the nomination battle would provide a better opportunity for Democrats Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton to win the election.
McCain addressed the same audience later that day and referred to himself as the Republican front-runner. The senator said he talked with Romney and "we agreed to sit down together, and we agree [on] the importance to unite our party."
Currently McCain has more than half the 1,191 delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination.
"I'd be honored and deeply humbled to receive the nomination of my party as we continue moving forward in this campaign," he said.
Texas Congressman Ron Paul remains in the race, but his candidacy is considered nonviable, having only amassed 21 delegates thus far with consistently poor finishes in primaries and caucuses.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee also is still competing, but U.S. media and political experts consider it extremely unlikely that he will be able to earn the nomination. He currently has 179 delegates compared to McCain's 699.
"This is a two-man race for the nomination, and I am committed to marching on," Huckabee said in a February 7 press statement. "As a true authentic, consistent, conservative, I have a vision to bring hope, opportunity and prosperity to all Americans, and I'd like to ask for and welcome the support of those who had previously been committed to Mitt."
CHALLENGES AHEAD FOR MCCAIN
It is no coincidence that Huckabee mentioned in his press release that he is an "authentic conservative." Many conservative Republicans have been reluctant to support McCain, who has been known for his moderate record.
Typically in American primaries, candidates work to appeal to their party base, and that effort tends to force them to move to the right or left of the political center, depending on the party. Once they have earned the nomination, candidates typically move back to the center to attract independents and voters from the opposite party.
McCain, who has a long history of working with politicians on both sides of the aisle, already has earned some support from independents while struggling to hold the backing of his party's conservative base.
The Arizona senator needs to prove to his own party that he is winning the support of conservatives and evangelical Christians, said John Mercurio, executive editor of The Hotline, an online Washington news source. Mercurio briefed foreign journalists at the Foreign Press Center (FPC) February 5.
McCain's interest in reaching out to conservatives has been evident in recent days. "I am proud to be a conservative, and I make that claim because I share with you the most basic of conservative principles," he told those at the February 7 conservative conference. McCain cited his belief in small government, low taxes and strong social values as evidence that he is a conservative.
If conservatives do not get behind McCain, it is possible they could rally together and pick a third-party candidate "who is a true conservative" to run for office, Thomas Mann, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution told journalists at the FPC briefing.
"That could certainly hurt the Republican ticket," Mann said. But he also noted that there is no obvious person to fit the bill as a conservative third-party leader.
HUCKABEE’S CONSERVATIVE APPEAL
Some party members have floated an idea on how to get conservatives to support McCain – they are suggesting that Huckabee be the vice presidential nominee. Traditionally, the presidential nominee selects the nominee for vice president.
Huckabee and McCain "could not be anymore different in terms of their style, their resumes. They come from very, very different worlds within the Republican party." Mercurio said. "And yet, they really … serve each others' needs."
However, there are potential disadvantages to selecting Huckabee as a running-mate, noted Ann Stone, a Republican activist.
"McCain's great strength … is that he attracts crossover votes," she said at a State Department digital videoconference February 6. If McCain chooses someone with such a strong conservative record like Huckabee, he could lose those voters, Stone said.
