Sen. John McCain effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination Thursday when former Gov. Mitt Romney ended his campaign. The Arizona senator immediately turned his attention to repairing relations with disgruntled GOP conservatives and opening the general election campaign with a critique of his Democratic rivals.
McCain signaled that he would mount a hard-fought campaign against either Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama based on conservative principles and built around his national security credentials and reputation as an opponent of wasteful government spending.
He charged that both of his opponents would recklessly adopt a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq without regard for the “profound human calamity” and heightened danger to U.S. security that he said would ensue.
“Often elections in this country are fought within the margins of small differences,” he said. “This one will not be. We are arguing about hugely consequential things. Whomever the
Democrats nominate, they would govern this country in a way that will, in my opinion, take this country backward.”
McCain asserted that neither Clinton nor Obama fully recognizes the threat of an Iran with nuclear ambitions and that both will concede to critics of America that this country’s actions in its own defense have helped stir Islamic radicalism.
McCain continued the process of consolidating the party Thursday. Former Sen. George Allen of Virginia appeared at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference to announce his support for McCain.
“We are at war and the preeminent role of the president is commander in chief, and in my judgment the best person to be president of the United States … is John McCain,” Allen said.
Allen, who planned to run for president himself before Democrat Jim Webb upset his 2006 bid for a second term in the Senate, had been a national co-chairman of former Sen. Fred Thompson’s campaign until Thompson quit the race last month.
Other GOP senators who have clashed with McCain, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and John Cornyn of Texas, got behind his bid as well.
McCain’s campaign staff, meanwhile, announced that he will appear at Nauticus in Norfolk at 9:30 a.m. today to take part in a national security roundtable discussion.
Romney’s departure from the Republican race, triggered by a disappointing showing on Super Tuesday, essentially concluded a nomination battle that saw McCain go from putative front-runner to struggling long shot to party standard bearer over the course of the past year.
But the reception McCain received at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he was booed loudly when introduced, pointed to the fractured coalition that he must now reunite.
“I am acutely aware that I cannot succeed in that endeavor (of uniting the party), nor can our party prevail over the challenge we will face from either Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama, without the support of dedicated conservatives, whose convictions, creativity and energy have been indispensable to the success our party has had over the last quarter-century,” McCain said.
Two candidates remain to oppose McCain – former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas – but neither has a plausible chance to win the nomination.
Romney announced his decision at the end of his appearance at the conference and hours before McCain appeared. Romney said his decision not to keep going was influenced by the fact that the country is at war.
“I disagree with Sen. McCain on a number of issues, as you know,” he said. “But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and on eliminating al-Qaida and terror.
“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 Sen. 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.”
Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a supporter of Romney, said he was disappointed by Romney’s decision to drop out.
“We had a great organization in Virginia, and we were ready to roll,” he said. “I think we would have been very competitive in the primary.”
Hours after Romney’s withdrawal, Clinton gave Virginians a preview of what a McCain-vs.-Clinton campaign could look like this fall.
At a rally with more than 2,000 people - at least half of them students too young to vote -- Clinton proclaimed her "respect for my friend and colleague Sen. McCain," but cast him as a defender of Bush administration policies she said are killing and maiming troops abroad and crippling the economy at home.
"I believe he offers more of the same," she said.
Clinton won thunderous applause with promises that she'll begin bringing American troops home from Iraq within 60 days of taking office next year; McCain, in contrast, is willing to keep American U.S. forces there for 100 years
At home, "We have an economy in trouble," Clinton added. "The American family is squeezed." But McCain has admitted to knowing little about the economy, she charged, and espouses "the same kind of policies that haven't worked so well for the last seven years."
Clinton's 30-minute speech - her first direct appeal to state voters in advance of Tuesday's Democratic primary - also included the kind of wonkish policy discussion for which she is famous. She walked the crowd through a string of proposals for dealing with problems ranging from global warming to the shortage of affordable health care to out-of-control college costs.
Clinton's focus on casting herself as the candidate prepared "to be the best president on Day 1" is designed to capitalize on what her staff perceives as a weakness of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, her lone remaining rival for the Democratic nomination.
Obama in just his third year in the Senate, has relied more on soaring rhetorical calls for change than on specific policy proposals. He is expected to campaign across the state this weekend, and he and Clinton will give back-to-back speeches to Democratic activists at a state party dinner on Saturday night in Richmond.
Clinton kept Thursday's crowd at Arlington's Washington-Lee High School waiting for more than two hours, arriving at the scheduled 2 p.m. rally shortly after 4. Teachers in the school's packed gynmasium for the event said the school day had previously been scheduled to end at noon to give teachers a chance to catch up clerical work.
The school, only a few blocks from Clinton's national campaign headquarters, sits hard by busy Interstate 66, a major commuter artery to Washington. It's 1,500-plus students are roughly equally between whites, Latinos and African-Americans, several teachers said.
Johnnie Buxton, a teacher's assistant in U.S. government classes at the school, said student interest has been captured by the historic opportunity to place either a woman or an African-American in the oval office. "They're very opinionated," he said of the school's students, adding that government classes are focusing on the presidential contest.
"It's going to be everything we talk about for the next two weeks," said Sophie Jenkins, 16, a Washington-Lee cheerleader." I have no sway in the process but I have my opinions."
Jenkins described herself as a likely future Democrat, but she was skeptical about Clinton's suggestion that every child should be given $5,000 at birth for investment in their future educational needs.
"I want to know where the Hell she intends to get that money" Jenkins said.
"They're aware of what a big deal this is," Sarah Harrick, an English teacher, said of the students. She and other teachers said the community leans , toward Democratic candidates - Arlington County is among the most reliably Democratic localities in the state - but that a Young Republican club also has a strong following at the school.
Though she described herself as persuadable, Harrick, 27, said she leans toward Obama. She has been impressed by his ability in other states to inspire young voters, she said.
"As a teacher, I know how important it is to inspire kids," Harrick added.
John Congable, 29, a software engineer who took time off from work for the rally, said he's also leaning toward Obama.
"I think he's got a better chance in the long run," Congable said. He described Clinton as "a polarizing figure, whether she wants to be or not," adding that either Democratic hopeful "would be better than what we've got."
This story was compiled from reports by The Washington Post and Virginian-Pilot staff writers Dale Eisman, Warren Fiske and Marc Davis.
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It's all about the lesser of the evils
I don't trust politicians period. They all have SIG's and big business funding every trip, dinner, and pot to piss in. I think Obama is smart not to get into specifics and focus on ideals. I find it ironic that some of you staunch republicans hating him for that yet I hardly heard bush give a straight answer in 8 years and when he did, it later changed.Plus, Kerry got killed on the "flip-flopper" persona in '04 and obama knows that. Hey I would love for all the candidates to outline every plan they have for each issue, however, it's the ability to work with people and the power of persuasion that gets things done. How many GOOD initiatives and bills created by presidents get anywhere?? Immigration and the economy are probably the 2 main issues along with terrorism. Immigration will continue to be a problem as long as american businesses hire them. Where there's demand someone will supply and it ain't gonna be the canadians. These business will continue to hire cheap labor to increase the bottom line so that the CEO can get a 5 million dollar bonus. they are the real culprits here. As far as the economy ,the president can do very little in that regard as its more of a cyclical pheno
Honesty and good judgment
If we turn the Hubble telescope around and focus it on the 2008 Presidential contest we would see two hot dwarf stars – one red and one blue – caught in the other’s gravitational field – spinning faster and faster as they a drawn into a death spiral that should have been our nation’s bright future.
The Republican right and the Clinton left are oscillating around each other in angry rhetoric – disconnected from national purpose.
How about a Presidential contest between candidates who have eschewed the machine approach to American politics. Let’s have nominees McCain and Obama step forward and present their ideas on a rising trajectory of honest discourse and clear choices.
Decisions, decisions...
You do have to give the Republicans a little credit for having the stones (but no brains) for even TRYING to put someone on the slate.
I'm thinking of voting for the cop that charged the A&F manager with obscenity - he's at least as qualified as everyone else who's running.
Did anyone get his name?
Thinning the herd
If these guys keep cutting and running from the race, do the terrorists win? Who do us pro-torture, pro-warrantless wiretaping, pro-DOJ politicization, pro-retroactive immunity legislation, pro-CIA agent outting voters rally behind? Besides John "100 years in Iraq" McCain that is?
McCain, next president?
John McCain quotes:
"The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should," he said. "I've got Greenspan's book." 2006
Kind of scary...
"I'm going to be honest; I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." 2005
At least he's honest...
"I just thought it was too tilted to the wealthy and I still do," he said of Bush tax cuts. "I want to cut the taxes on the middle class." 2003
Sounds like a Democrat...
Troops home in 60 days?
I'd like to know what Senator Clinton has smoked(probaply not inhaled) to say something like this? How she would do that, just issuing Executive Order" Troops come home". What a joke. There is no way to get troops out there in 60 days, no matter who is the President. Also I'd like to know, where she is going to get all extra money for healhcare, etc. She should bail out now& try again in 2012. Stop wasting taxpayers(read voters)money.
My Respectful Opinion
I'm an independent but I do respect McCain and his opinions. I don't agree with him on everything, I don't agree with conservatives on everything, and I don't agree with liberals on everything. But it is nice that he's actually a politician that shows signs of independent thinking that aren't strictly conformed to party lines and has found success.
I also believe Clinton would be a far better choice to run against McCain. Clinton has fared far better in all the battleground states for the general election so far. She's more experienced on national security and economic issues while Obama seems to fit the bill for a perfect VP poised to run in the future since his support is more charisma based rather than issue based.
Respectfully Asking..
How Obama supporters feel about his "giving up Islam" and becoming a "Methodist"? Why doesn't any news group ask this? Respectfully asking of course! "How's that Pilot Staff?..better than this morning's post?
Robert,
The Ron Paul run has shown that he can stimulate his Paulistas to contribute money and flood the telephone poll lines, but that hasn't resulted in votes. Paul has raised ten times more money than Huckabee, another former third tier candidate, yet he has won less than one-tenth the delegates that Huckabee has. It's a case of two plus two equaling three: it just doesn't add up. He'd do a lot better if he didn't come across as negative as he has in the debates thus far.
As far as John McCain goes, he stabbed me in the back with the McCain-Feingold Incumbent Protection Act, and he twisted the knife with the McCain-Kennedy Amnesty Act. He's a loser, and November will prove it.
the ecomy and war
Has anyone happened to think about how many trillion's of dollars the war has generated for the economy. The textile industry for uniform's,weapon's,GM for the Hummer,And the Truckers for moving it all around the country. War is not nice but I haven't forgotten 9-11 and it seems that some have, We were attacked before the idea of the War is what is causing the Muslim Radical opinon. Whoever gets the Job Of President Obama/McCain/Billary can only do what CONGRESS will approve. So enought with the LIES of I Will DO Etc. There is no I in TEAM and all of the Candidates need to learn that!.
Why concentrate so much on DC
One thing I never understood, people get all fired up and crazy about a presidental election every 4 years, and generaly the senate and house elections. Yet, few people really put an effort into City Council and the General Assembly. We are more effected by the desicions of the Councils and GA than we are about a bunch of stiffs in DC. Yet it takes me an hour plus to vote in a Congress or Presidential election and I'm in and out in 10 min for a local or state election.
Personally, I think the good governer Warner should throw his hat into the ring in the next election. And the US is a capitalistic society not socialist.
Political Bedlam in Commonwealth of Virginia
I read the article & all comments posted. I know who the republican will will be. Everyone does, even Ron Paul's supporters, no matter how hard they hope. Democrat, any one's guess , but there are 2 standing on 2 stumps... of identical trees. I think my friend Gandhi said it best. "Political bedlam is rampant, particularly in The Punjab Region. Any army divided amongst itself, has no chance against a united foe."
Dissent is our Birthright!
We have an historic opportunity to elect a woman or a black!? Oh brother. We are in big trouble if these "youths" turnout to vote. This one is easy. We have a chance to vote for "Socialist light"(McCain)and real Socialist/Commie (Hillary and Obama). This crap about "being inspired" is an example of the pablum puke discussion they allow in government schools.
If any students are reading this you better wake up. Here is some homework for you. Name one country in history that has ever made socialism really work. Granted, our country is not near perfect. But would you want to live in China, or Iran? I think not. How about Mexico? Take a breath everyone. We have a long way to go until November. Obviously the Constitution has been thrown out the window. Hopefully Ron Paul will run as an Independent and give us a REAL choice (and hope) for 2009. Oh ye suckers.............
Funny
McCain is the same old guard. Clinton is the same old guard only worse! Yet people are flocking to a man who wasn't born in this country, and who came from a sect of a violent tribe, who supposedley "gave up Islam" because he "turned Methodist" AND someone posted here that he was a former drug addict? I gues you people really like the idea that the Fed is a private bank answerable to no one, instead of the U.S. Treasury (according to the Constitution) and you really, really like being in debt to China 1.4 trillion dollars all the way down to your grand kids AND just love illegals to come and get drunk and kill your sons and daughters and take money out of a system YOU paid into. It will be an interesting ride in the next 5 years!
Obama + Clinton = America
The ONLY reason that Bill Clinton's administration was "the most investigated administration in the 20th century" was only due to the most vindictive, self-serving Congressional witch-hunt in ALL of American history.
They were determined to get him for anything they could dig up & after 7 years of digging, they finally got him for something MOST of his accusers were equally guilty of... yes, even the right-wingers.
The important points in this election are:
1. Lobbyists must GO AWAY... the bribery MUST STOP!
2. The Iraq war must stop killing our brave soldiers, to line the pockets of our Vice President & his cronies.
3. The drug companies must be held accountable.
4. The oil companies must be held accountable.
5. The health care companies must be held accountable.
6. Jobs must NOT be exported.
7. The POLITICIANS must be held accountable for ALL of the above.
For a solution to items 2 through 7... see item 1!
its gotta be tough being a republican...
and its gotta be really tough to try to justify to yourself how this country could possibly deserve 4 more years of the insanely insidious and morally bankrupt neo-con agenda. how do you manage to wave the flag for the people who have stripped away your civil rights? habeas corpus, i guess thats not such an important concept in a theocracy. the America i was taught about, and pledged allegiance to, didn't sink to the level of brutal dictatorships that tortured and held people in secret prisons. invading other countries to take their resources was thought of as a bad thing. the republican party has lost all credibility in every sphere of politics. fiscal responsibility, foreign policy, public safety...the only thing republicans have managed to do well in the last 8 years is make the richest 1% in this country richer.
I am voting for hillary. i remember the clinton years quite well thank you. i remember both the good and the bad. the bad was nothing compared to katrina, iraq, mortgage crisis, abu grahib, etc. and during the '90s i too had a surplus.
the republican party is dead. go peddle crazy somewhere else.
comparison, daniel?
You should compare JM with true morals and integrity. That's what the Bush supporters did back in 2000. Does JM support Bush having his homosexual prostitute Jeff Gannon visit the White House?
Clinton and more Whitewater lies
I wonder if Hillary will be having her guys kicking over grave stones so they can take pictures of her putting them back up???? Remember that one Billy!!! Just lies to get elected!!! Sure she will end the war and bring the troops home....NOT
President Hillary Clinton----get used to it
Sorry guys, but Hillary will pound little Johnny into the ground. People are tired of this war, this Republican party, and this path of slow self-destruction. If you're a conservative, get ready to feel like a minority you've always truly been.
McCain is clearly more qualified and capable?
Back in the 2000 primaries, the Bush supporters belittled McCain's sanity, patriotism, morality, integrity and much more. Are we to believe the repubs have now found the true faith in JM's character?
Big girls don't cry!!!
It is SO funny how Republicans continue to spew insults. But, it's what they do best, since they can't seem to run our country right.
Oh, how they soon forget that they had TOTAL control of it all, and screwed it up, right on cue!
So, Virginia DEMS let's fix it.
Professional women CAN'T cry. Go to the bathroom stall and then you lose it ma'am! This isn't New Hampshire and the FAKE tears are not going to work here.
Obama '08
Response to JKBRENT
Very well then. Your response was quite different. It added to the level of meaningful dialogue that we all seek to engage in.
Right,
And so did Hitler, and Benedict Arnold. The Viet Nam War has been over for 30 years. If we have to get over Reagan, McCainiacs need to get over Viet Nam too.
JOHN McCAIN, ANY DAY AND EVERYDAY
John McCain does have his setbacks I must say. The illegal immigration amnesty bill blew up in his face. Congress kept him in check concerning this matter and will do so in the future. (Thank God for the 3 branches of government and the built in checks and balances.) But as a whole, he is clearly a more superb and astute leader with MOST of America's best interests at heart. His leadership and points of view shine in comparison to the illogical political stances the Clinon and Obama camps have taken. John McCain has more experience, honor, integrity, and service to the country under his belt than Clinton and Obama combined.
McCain is no option either
McCain doesn't just want to give illegals drivers licenses, he wants to give them the entire country for free. You need to do your homework on McCain's legislation proposals. Marshall Henri McCain has been a collaborator with both Hitlery Rob'em Clinton and Barak Hussein Obama.