Romney Endorses McCain

Former Rival Instructs Delegates To Back Arizona Senator

(CBS/AP)  Republican campaign dropout Mitt Romney endorsed John McCain for the party's presidential nomination and asked his national convention delegates to swing behind the likely nominee.

"Even when the contest was close and our disagreements were debated, the caliber of the man was apparent," the former Massachusetts governor said, standing alongside his one-time rival at his now-defunct campaign's headquarters.

Romney collected 166 delegates during his run through the early primaries and caucuses, enough to move McCain close to the total of 1,191 needed to clinch the nomination a full nine months before the November general election.

The officials who disclosed Romney's plans did so on condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting a formal announcement later in the day. McCain was campaigning in Vermont and Rhode Island, and added a flight to Boston to appear with Romney to accept the endorsement at his waterfront campaign headquarters.

McCain effectively sealed the nomination last week when Romney withdrew from the race; only former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and libertarian-leaning Texas Rep. Ron Paul remain. Both lag McCain in delegates to the GOP's nominating convention this summer.

Romney's nod of support capped a bitter yearlong rivalry between the two men over the party's nomination. Romney criticized McCain in television ads in New Hampshire, and both candidates mixed it up almost daily during campaign events and debates. Neither is especially fond of the other.

Over the past year, Romney cast McCain as outside of the GOP's conservative mainstream and a Washington insider who contributed to the problems plaguing a broken system. McCain, in turn, argued that Romney's equivocations and reversals on several issues indicated a willingness to change his positions to fit his political goals.

The clash effectively ended on Feb. 5, when McCain won a string of big-state primaries from coast to coast.

Officials said the former Massachusetts governor made his decision to back McCain earlier in the day, citing a desire to help the Arizona senator wrap up the nomination before too much more time passed and while Democrats still did not have a nominee.

McCain is on a steady march toward amassing the 1,191 delegates he needs, but Huckabee has proven an unexpectedly durable challenger. With a strong appeal to evangelical conservatives, Huckabee defeated McCain in two out of three states that chose delegates last weekend, and ran a far stronger race than expected before losing the Virginia primary on Tuesday.

The senator began the day with 815 delegates, to 199 for Huckabee. Officials say Romney can ask his delegates to support McCain to the extent permitted by state law and party rules.

In a phone interview on CNN, Huckabee maintained he would stay in the race until McCain secured enough delegates to lock up the nomination.

"This election is about, or at least ought to be, about choices and voices, not coronations," he said. "Most people are right now saying it looks like McCain is the inevitable nominee. But I'm not most people. I don't represent these folks that are, again, looking at the 'me too. I'm the leader of the 'not me yet' movement, and that's fine."

He defended his decision to stay in the race, even though McCain and others have asked him to exit for the sake of party unity.

"It's not just out of stubbornnesss," he said. "I listen to the people who got me here. The only people who have told me to quit are the people supporting the other candidates. I've not had my supporters tell me they're ready for us to throw in the towel."

In the next round of voting, Louisiana holds a state convention Saturday in which caucus-goers will help decide how 44 of the state's 47 national convention delegates are split. At stake Tuesday in Wisconsin's primary are 40 GOP delegates.

A former Massachusetts governor, Romney suspended his candidacy last week after it became apparent that toppling McCain would be near impossible to gain the delegates needed to defeat McCain.

In a speech before conservative activists in Washington, D.C., Romney acknowledged the difficulty in overtaking McCain. "I must now stand aside, for our party and our country," he said at the time, adding that doing otherwise would increase the chances that Democrats would reclaim the White House.

At the time, Romney did not offer an endorsement, and McCain said he did not seek one when the two spoke by telephone.

Romney was the only one of McCain's main primary opponents who had resisted lining up behind the nominee in waiting; Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson both have endorsed him.

[singingrick]

Doh! Now what are the neocons going to do? They''ve spent so much time and money swift-boating McCain, they''re going to have to learn how to paddle backwards. Fortunately for them, they already do everything else backwards.


lol!

[byeneocons]

Duh! Who did they expect him to endorse? Barack Obama?

[ontheleft]

The coveted endorsement from Romney. I thought for sure it was going to that nutcase Ron Paul.

[byeneocons]

I guess this means McCain will get Romney''s $59,000,000 worth of delegates.

[aeasus]

So Romney is endorsing waterboarding and 100 years of war?

It''s a sad day

[perception5]

John McCain should consider making Mitt Romney is VP.

Mitt can help win "blue" states like Michigan, Minnesota, and Massachusetts. All states that Mitt won during the primaries.

................GO MITT !

[smirk5]

Romney supports McBush in his Less Jobs More War Campaign.

[nottellin1]

Romney is looking to be vice Prez, nothing more than that.

[jack3213]

It is important to remember, Romney is loyal to his party, this can''t be said on many levels for the Democrats as they show no loyalty to anyone if elected. The are full of hot air and empty promises. Only the poor and and uneducated, or the extremely rich who do not pay taxes gives a hoot about the Democrats. Figure it out.

[shingles1]

jack3213,

From the 2006 exit polls:

VOTE BY INCOME TOTAL
Less Than $100,000: Democrat 55% Republican 43%
$100,000 or More: Democrat 47% Republican 52%

Last I checked, 52 was greater than 47.

[gwagener]

If Romney is trying to buy the VP spot with his delegates, it won''t work. If McCain picks Romney for VP the evangelicals will all stay home come 4 Nov. Picking Romney for VP is a sure loser for McCain. He loses most of the bible belt states to get the nomination that he already has. Not a good deal.

[hmikem]

McCain will pick Rice for VP

[remco82]

A whole generation sent off to fight a new Crusade in the Middle East? Vote Obama!

[grazinggoat]

Mormon Mitt Rommels endorsement is MEANINGLESS!
Posted by neoconism at 02:59 PM : Feb 14, 2008

-Not only meaningless, but useless as well. Repukons are losing their time running for president. Sweet!

[gwagener]

McCain will pick Rice for VP
-----------------------

Posted by hmikem at 03:05 PM : Feb 14, 2008

There couldn''t be a much worse choice than Rice for VP. She was instrumental in the misleading statements leading up to the Iraq invasion (the attack ads write themselves). She was central to planning the mismangaement of the aftermath. She encouraged Israel to attack Hezbolah in Lebenon, which led to Hezbolah controlling most of Lebenon. In short, the list of her failures and incompetance is almost endless. Plus,there are far more people in the Republican party who vote based on race than in the Democratic party.

[realpatriot1]

Romney endorses McCain-that''s 6 more votes for McCain!

[smirk5]

Romney supports McCain''s 100 year Iraq occupation plan. Just don''t raise his taxes to pay for it and don''t expect any of his son''s to risk their skin over the deal.

[hungry1968]

"Hi. My name is Mitt Romney. I''m a loser. To prove exactly how much of a loser I really can be, I''m endorsing John McCain."

[mrsmarrero]

Why are republicans afraid of allowing the election process to proceed, so all states have a say? Competition shouldn''t be a threat. We''ll come together in November. I will vote for Huckabee in the primary. He''s worked hard and has tenaciously refused to give up. I want to reward that. I urge Romney''s delegates not to hand your vote over to McCain, but look at the issues before you honestly before making your decision. Don''t rob other states of being taking part in the election process. They want their vote to be heard, too. We should switch to a national primary election day, so no state has more say than any other. If there are too many candidates, they could have a series of voting days to narrow it down before the final primary (kind of like play-offs), but all states should vote on the same day. Also, instead of all the advertising, the government should sponser a series of three nationally televised debates within about a 1-month period, followed by an opportunity for each candidate to give one 15-30 minute speech. During this 1-month period, voters could independently investigate the voting records and histories of their candidates without being swayed by negative ads which generally take things out of context and exaggerate issues. This would give each candidate an equal opportunity to present their case without expensive advertisements polluting the airwaves. After nominees are selected, the process could go on as normal, at which time advertising could be allowed.

[hungry1968]

McCain will pick Rice for VP
Posted by hmikem at 03:05 PM : Feb 14, 2008

WONDERFUL! I hope he does run with one of the architects of Bush''''s unholy war. Rummy would be better, but Condi''''s fine.

Posted by nokoolaid at 03:18 PM : Feb 14, 2008




Exactly. McIdiot picking Rice for a VP is like the captain of the Titanic aiming for the iceberg.

His candidacy will go down much faster than the Titanic did if and when he picks "Mushroom Cloud" Condi to be his running mate.

[hoodwinked3]

It appears that the Sith Lord Darth Sidious (John McCain) has chosen his VP %u2013 Darth Vader (Mitt Romney). Those two would make the perfect skit on Saturday Night Live! Even Romney has the build for the Vader suit and McCain doesn%u2019t need any facial costuming to play the part. The parallels in the behavior of McCain and the Sith Lord are frightingly similar as well.

[unitethegop]

Romney is smart to unite the party. WE NEED ROMNEY FOR VP! check out www.unitethegop.com

[bdrlnt4rl]

grazinggoat

mitts endorsement is only meanless to idiots like you.

he is the only pres canidate that was positive and wanting to hold the repubs together.

him dropping out was unbelievable the smartest political move i have seen, made hucky look foolish and showed that he has a true passion for the party and the country and did not want to be the devidor of the bunch.

but idiots like yourself think stupidly and cant determine what is real and what is not. all you have to do is wake up out of your dream land and realize you are an idiot for thinking otherwise.

only idiots care if he is a mormon. only an idiot would care what kind of underwear he wears.

basically, stop being an idiot.

[unitethegop]

MCCAIN-ROMNEY TICKET
www.unitethegop.com

[random_radar]

McCain doesn''t need Romney, he has the nomination easily in hand in a matter of days. But endorsements and delegates are fungible assets in politics, so there is something being given in exchange. Vice president Romney? Could be interesting, but I was expecting vice president Huckabee if the deal making were putting that on the table.

After all, the popular theory is that Evangelicals have a strangle hold on the Republican party and that Romney''s weakness was not being palatable to them. Wouldn''t the right olive leaf be to put Huckabee on the ticket?

But in the general election, we have to appeal to the whole spectrum. McCain will have the liberal to moderate slice in his corner, but what do we do about conservatives? I am betting on a non-candidate being chosen for broad appeal to conservatives.

[candide777]

MCCAIN-ROMNEY TICKET
www.unitethegop.com
Posted by unitethegop at 03:47 PM : Feb 14, 2008

LOL -- the GOP is DOA this election! But, I suppose they are deserving of a proper burial in a mass grave, so what the heck, good luck rounding up and uniting the corpses!

[bdrlnt4rl]

nokoolaid

my point. idiots do not realize he was loosing big. when mitt dropped out, he still had a pretty good shot. he did not want to take away from the party. he wanted to be the uniter. man, idiots, read the news once in a while

[hungry1968]

MCCAIN-ROMNEY TICKET
www.unitethegop.com

Posted by unitethegop at 03:47 PM : Feb 14, 2008





The country can''t take anymore of the GOP.

After we''ve been left with an endless war with no good way out, indebted our grandchildren and their grandchildren for the next 5 generations, repeatedly armed our enemies WHILE letting them get away with attacking us and not doing anything about it.

WHY on earth would ANYONE want the GOP to be in charge of anything again?

[bdrlnt4rl]

however it will be a democratic term. no lying on that one.

i would be surprised if mitt would accept vp. he will be in the white house tho. whoever gets elected will ask him to get him there, because they all know his potential. only you idiots think otherwise.

[bdrlnt4rl]

unitethegop

is this a mitt site, or a mccain site, or a hopeful site to draw interest.

[hungry1968]

my point. idiots do not realize he was loosing big. when mitt dropped out, he still had a pretty good shot. he did not want to take away from the party. he wanted to be the uniter. man, idiots, read the news once in a while

Posted by bdrlnt4rl at 03:57 PM : Feb 14, 2008




He was a dead duck, getting virtually no funding because he had a tiny group of supporters. He had to keep funding his own campaign, and didn''t want to use anymore of his own money especially since he had NO chance of winning.

[bdrlnt4rl]

hungry1968

you are kidding right. did you not watch any of the news or even read any?????

what planet are you from????

[candide777]

when mitt dropped out, he still had a pretty good shot. he did not want to take away from the party. he wanted to be the uniter. man, idiots, read the news once in a while
Posted by bdrlnt4rl at 03:57 PM : Feb 14, 2008

LOL -- umm, I think he was tired of throwing good money after bad, but if you buy his spin, you are truly what republican politicians love, putty in their hands.

[superdem]

Sure, all the bad stuff Romney said about McCain didn''t really happen in Republicanland. There''s not a dime''s worth of difference between them. They both support American imperialism and endless wars suppressing the people of the world who dare to resist capitalism - er, I mean Democracy. Both support torture, both support spying, both support politicizing the Justice and State Departments, both support stacking the Supreme Court with anti-choice anti-gay anti-you name its.

[bdrlnt4rl]

nokoolaid

sounds like the idiots were jealous because he was smart enough to be a millionaire.

get real. he was the only one, other than clinton, that did not have to beg for money from poor america. that says something about his character. if you look up how much money he raise and how much of his own money he used, he raised the most and saved it back and used his own.

please tell me there are people out there that know something about what is going on in the world of politics other than some of the idiots.

[bdrlnt4rl]

hungry1968

listen to how you sound about talking about someones undies. get real

idiots, idiots idiots.

[bdrlnt4rl]

now that yall have made yourselves look stupid in the eyes of the beholder


good bye. had fun. i love getting panties in a wod!!!!!

[d33pthroat1]

On Romney, nokoolaid is 100% right. Nothing more needs to be said.

Actually, talking about GOP is a waste of time. They are done. People want a change away from GOP and whether it is Clinton or Obama, McCain is going to lose in Nov.

So, the only meaningful thing left to discuss is who is going to be the next prez: Obama or Clinton. Based on what is happening, I am betting on Obama.

[hungry1968]

now that yall have made yourselves look stupid in the eyes of the beholder


good bye. had fun. i love getting panties in a wod!!!!!

Posted by bdrlnt4rl at 04:21 PM : Feb 14, 2008





You come on here spouting what a great and wonderful guy Romney is, and what a great president he would make, yet you seem to not realize, HE LOST!!

He never had a legitimate chance to win!!

You''re the only one here that lookslike an idiot - you''re still praising someone THAT ALREADY LOST!! And not only did he lose, but he lost to McCain!!

LOL!!! What a fool!!!

[gkc99]

One thing can certainly be said for Mitt Bushit:

He never lets conscience or belief get in the way of political expediency!

[smirk5]

Just a few weeks ago McBush was saying that Romney supported a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq and that essentially meant he supported surrender to Al-Qaeda. Now, Romney bends over and supports McBush. What a wuss.

[samthetvcat]

You think there''s a possibility McSurge''ll select Romney, Giuliani, or Huckabee for VP and try to package it as kind of a Captain/First Mate ticket?

[ivandrago]

Mitt Romney might be one of the most flexible politicians in U.S. history. As the wind blows so goes the man named Mitt. His middle name should be shape shifter.

[kissamaarse]

Further guarantees the sinking of the ship "Bush" McCain.

[rwassel]

Hysterical. Where will all the Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and other right wing radical fans go, since they all have publicly stated they would NEVER vote for McCain?

Any of you right wingers have any thoughts???

[bdrlnt4rl]

hungry1968

have fun fantisizing about magic undies

[trglazier]

McCain is starting to look more like Bush everyday. Look at that photo of him! LOL

[mcvet]

Oh Joy! The dumb as rocks twins! Don''t worry folks, these Nazi Jokes are going to Cut your taxes, cut their spending and balance the budget. Now the fact that they have NEVER done it and the fact that they MISMANAGED a Balanced Budget AND a Surplus into record deficits shouldn''t bother you!! ROFLMAO Stay the Course and lets shoot for 2 TRILLION spent in a needless war before NEXT election!! ROFLMAO Sieg Heil McCain!! Sieg Heil the New Fuhrer!!!

[mcvet]

to your average liberal; if one attends church he''''s a religious freak - so open and liberal of you to see it that way....


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by badaxmofo at 04:21 PM : Feb 14, 2008
+ report abuse

Huh?? Now Sparky I marched with MANY a Liberal Christian during the Civil Rights Days. I''m still aware of a lot of them...they have been on the front lines of ALL our struggles for freedom and justice. Maybe you should take a NIGHT CLASS or two... just brush up on our history a little. I believe IF you check the record it''s the members of the Toe Tappers Association everyone dislikes so much... they are Religious FASCIST Hypocrits like LARRY CRAIG!! Now don''t you feel stupid?? Well of course you don''t... your a fascist and thus not intelligent enough to understand... Sieg Heil Bush!!

[merlgrey]

seems as if the current gop has given up on this election as a loss... and is letting mccain have his long sought after shot since it is a losing year anyways.