Long March in Store for McCain, Romney
By LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press
January 30, 2008
MIAMI (AP) -- John McCain has emerged as the man to beat for the Republican nomination.
Only Mitt Romney stands in his way.
''We have a ways to go, but we are getting close,'' a gleeful McCain told supporters shortly after clinching Florida's primary. A disappointed Romney promised to press on.
The GOP nomination fight finally has boiled down to a two-man race after a year of volatility that made 2008 the most wide-open GOP nomination fight in half a century.
In one corner: McCain, the four-term Arizona senator and former Vietnam prisoner of war arguing that he alone has the experience, judgment and leadership to be a wartime commander in chief.
In the other corner: Romney, a former Massachusetts governor with two-decades of work in the private sector who claims he is best able to turn around an economy bearing down on a recession.
The once-crowded field is set to grow thinner Wednesday when former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani -- who went 0-7 in contests -- drops out of the race and endorses McCain. That could help McCain in delegate-rich, more moderate states slated to vote next week, like California, New York and Illinois. But it also could give Romney fodder to claim that McCain isn't the truest conservative in the race.
Among the others, Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who won Iowa, remains in the nomination hunt but has little money and has scored in the teens or below in five of the seven contests so far. Texas Rep. Ron Paul has made no move to withdraw even though he scores in single digits in voting.
That leaves only McCain and Romney with a serious shot at the nomination.
McCain has momentum working on his side from back-to-back wins; Romney has money and proven fundraising skills.
In the race for delegates to the national party convention, McCain (93) leads, followed by Romney (59), Huckabee (40), Paul (4) and Giuliani (1).
Up next on Tuesday: 21 GOP contests offering 1,023 of the 1,191 delegates needed to secure the nomination.
''In one week, we will have as close to a national primary as we've ever had in this country. I intend to win it and be the nominee of our party,'' McCain declared.
Romney, no doubt, will do whatever he can to prevent that, including, if absolutely necessary, pouring more of his own fortune into his campaign. He's already contributed some $40 million to his own bid, and hasn't been shy about criticizing his rivals from the TV airwaves or while he campaigns.
''I think what will happen across the country is that conservatives will give a good thought to whether or not they want to hand the party's nomination over to Senator McCain. He has not been their champion over the last several years,'' Romney said in an interview Wednesday on ABC's ''Good Morning America.''
''I think there will be a movement within the Republican party to coalesce around a conservative candidate. Mike Huckabee, of course, might stay in, and that might be one of the reasons he does so -- is to try and split that conservative vote.''
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