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 McCain seals GOP nod as Romney suspends
WASHINGTON (AP) -- John McCain effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday as chief rival Mitt Romney suspended his faltering campaign. "I must now stand aside, for our party and our country," Romney told conservatives.
"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. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror," Romney told the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.
Romney's decision leaves McCain as the top man standing in the GOP race, with Mike Huckabee and Texas Rep. Ron Paul far behind in the delegate hunt.
Romney launched his campaign almost a year ago in his native Michigan. The former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist spent more than $40 million of his own money on the race, counted on early wins in Iowa and New Hampshire that never materialized and won just seven mostly small caucus states on Super Tuesday. Hours after Romney's speech, former Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman endorsed McCain and urged all GOP members to back him.
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Obama raises $7M post Super Tuesday
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Democrat Barack Obama raised $7.2 million and Hillary Rodham Clinton collected $6.4 million since Super Tuesday. Obama also agreed to two debates in the coming weeks, whereas Clinton wanted more.
The remarkable outpouring of contributions since Tuesday's contests in 22 states came on the heels of an eye-popping $32 million raised by Obama in January, and the record-shattering $100 million each raised by Obama and Clinton last year in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Obama has been riding a wave of fundraising from large donors and small Internet contributors. While not matching Obama's pace, Clinton also saw an online surge of donations from 35,000 new contributors since midnight Tuesday, Clinton campaign aides said. Campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe told reporters in a conference call Thursday that these donations totaled $6.4 million.
In a sign of Clinton's increasing concern about Obama's growing strength, her campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, sent a letter Thursday to Obama's campaign seeking five debates before March 4. He agreed to two, a Feb. 26 debate in Cleveland, and a later debate in Texas.
Clinton acknowledged Wednesday that she loaned her campaign $5 million late last month as Obama was outraising and outspending her heading into the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday contests.
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Iowa governor endorses Obama
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Iowa Gov. Chet Culver endorsed Barack Obama's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination during a rally Thursday in Omaha, Neb.
"Senator Obama has been fighting for ordinary folks ever since he was a community organizer," Culver told the Associated Press in a phone interview. "I believe he will fight for those people as their next president."
Nebraska holds Democratic caucuses on Saturday.
Culver's endorsement gives Obama a boost in Iowa but also means Culver will support the Illinois senator as a superdelegate at the nominating convention in Denver. The superdelegates have become increasingly important in the competitive race for the Democratic nomination.
Culver had remained neutral throughout the campaign for Iowa's precinct caucuses on Jan. 3. He said he made his decision Wednesday.
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Conservatives weigh options on McCain
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Conservatives are nearly resigned to seeing front-runner John McCain capture the Republican presidential nomination, but they are still debating whether to stay home in November or to try to influence his positions and choice of a running mate.
The Arizona senator, who has a long history of disputes over economic and social issues with his party's right flank, is beginning to reach out to those critics now that Super Tuesday voting has given him a commanding lead in the race for delegates and his chief rival, Mitt Romney, suspended his campaign
"He's got nine months to give birth to a conservative support group," said Cleta Mitchell, chairman of the American Conservative Union Foundation.
Mitchell spoke as party activists gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where McCain was pitching his candidacy to a skeptical audience in a speech Thursday afternoon.
McCain told the group he cannot succeed without its support and any differences within the GOP are eclipsed by his differences with Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.
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THE DEMOCRATS
Hillary Rodham Clinton holds a rally in Arlington, Va., before flying to Seattle for another. Barack Obama campaigns in New Orleans and Omaha, Neb.
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THE REPUBLICANS
Mitt Romney spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. John McCain also attended the conference before a scheduled address to the Baltimore Republican Lincoln Day Dinner in Maryland. Mike Huckabee holds private meetings in New York.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters ... many of you right here in this room ... have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming president. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America."
-- Republican Mitt Romney, in a speech Thursday announcing he suspended his campaign.
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STAT OF THE DAY:
Fifty-two percent of Republicans prefer a president with experience in Washington who can get things done; 41 percent of Democrats agree, according to an AP-Yahoo News survey released Jan. 31.
[Associated
Press]
Compiled by Ann Sanner.
Copyright 2007 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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