McCain Secures GOP Nomination

(CBS/AP)  CBS News projects Republican Sen. John McCain has clinched the Republican nomination for president following wins in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont on Tuesday.

"I am very pleased to note that tonight, my friends, we have won enough delegates to claim with confidence, humility and a sense of great responsibility that I will be the Republican nominee for President of the United States," McCain told supporters in Dallas, Texas Tuesday night, according to his prepared remarks.

McCain's last Republican rival, Mike Huckabee, dropped out of the race after the results came in.

"What a journey," Huckabee told supporters in Texas Tuesday night. "A journey of a lifetime."

President Bush will endorse McCain on Wednesday. McCain will travel to the White House to receive the endorsement and have lunch with the president.

CBS News reports that Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both called the Arizona senator Tuesday night.

"This clears the path for McCain to begin his general election process in earnest," said CBSNews.com Senior Political Editor Vaughn Ververs. "With a possible protracted battle on the Democratic side that could continue for weeks, it's a luxury Republicans need as they enter into a difficult road towards November."

In remarks Tuesday night, McCain said "we begin the most important part of our campaign," now that he's wrapped up the Republican presidential nomination.

McCain and his wife appeared at a rally in Dallas where a big sign bearing number 1,191 was on prominent display. CBS News estimates that McCain secured 1,199 delegates with Tuesday's wins; 1,191 are necessary to clinch the GOP nomination. (Click here for latest tally.)

The Arizona senator expressed gratefulness to the broad support he's received, not only from Republicans, but independents and as he put it, "independent-thinking Democrats."

He also took a few moments to praise Huckabee, calling the former Arkansas governor a "great, fine, decent American."

McCain said his campaign will make a "respectful, determined and convincing case to the American people" that his election as president is in the best interest of the country.

Tuesday's triumph comes in McCain's second run at the nomination, after his loss to Mr. Bush in 2000. Once the front-runner for 2008, his campaign nearly imploded last summer. But he regrouped, reassuming the underdog role that he relishes, and methodically dispatched one rival after another in a string of primaries in January and early February.

Huckabee told supporters Tuesday that McCain "has run an honorable campaign because he is an honorable man."

The Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor won the GOP contests in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia, Louisiana and Kansas in addition to the Iowa caucuses. He had come under increasing pressure from Republican leaders to drop out of the race after McCain emerged as the likely Republican nominee after Super Tuesday.

"We aren't going away completely," said Huckabee, who campaigned on a social conservative platform. "We want to be a part of helping to keep the issues alive that have kept us in this race."

[abbe91]

"If you want more of the "McSAME" vote for John McCain!
Posted by watcher269 at 02:21 AM : Mar 06, 2008"

McCain compared to Bush: as old as the dad, as dumb as the son.

[watcher269-2009]

If you want more of the "McSAME" vote for John McCain!

[watcher269-2009]

Here is what a vote for McCain will give you more of:

American new home sales in January shrank to a 13-year low, while home foreclosures jumped 8% in January and by 57% from a year earlier. Bank repossessions soared 90% from a year earlier, with Nevada, California and Florida having the highest foreclosure rates. House prices tumbled almost 9% in the final quarter of 2007 from a year ago in the biggest depreciation since comparative records began in 1987.

US consumer confidence has dropped to its lowest level in five years, with the latest Conference Board index now pointing to the worst outlook for 17 years. The proportion of respondents believing jobs are plentiful waned to 20.6% from 23.8% last month. Consumer spending stalled for a second month, increasing concerns that the part of the economy that accounts for two-thirds of annual output is faltering. Meaning, the average American%u2019s outlay on debt service, housing, medical care, food and energy now accounts for over two-thirds of his total spending, the highest since record-keeping began in 1980, according to Bloomberg

[watcher269-2009]

Two former high-ranking Shiite government officials charged with kidnapping and killing scores of Sunnis were ordered released Monday after prosecutors dropped the case. The abrupt move renewed concerns about the willingness of Iraq%u2019s leaders to act against sectarianism and cast doubts on U.S. efforts to build an independent judiciary.

The collapse of the trial stunned American and Iraqi officials who had spent more than a year assembling the case, which they said included a wide array of evidence.

%u201CThis shows that the judicial system in Iraq is horribly broken,%u201D said a U.S. legal adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly. %u201CAnd it sends a terrible signal: If you are Shia, then no worries; you can do whatever you want and nothing is going to happen to you.%u201D

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki%u2019s decision to allow the case to proceed to trial was considered a significant step toward proving his Shiite-led government could hold Shiite officials accountable for sectarian crimes.

[jerryz7936]

McCain will win the nomination.

The wisdom of the DNC will let Hillary and Obama slug and bloody each other. Obama has the pledge delegate lead.
When the DNC super-delegates overturn the pledge delegates for Hillary or run to Obama side, one side will not vote, may vote for Nader or McCain.

You fools are falling into the conservative republicans plans. If they overrule Obama, 90% of the black vote will be gone and all of the first time and young voters will join.
If jumping to Obama, over sixty years old and women will protest. I don''t want to miss the uneducated that Hillary always says she gets. They don''t know better.

[jheckerman]

All McCain can do is Nod. Too opinionated- Too full of himself - A "Know it all". Cheated on his first wife. forgiven by all of his self-righteous religious Republicans. Interesting! Oh how they threw the stones.
Funny how McCain chums up with President Bush- A President who lied about Iraq. Who lead us into war by deceit. Bush has embarassed us at home and around the world. An inexperienced President. Poor move by McCain.
Hillary Rodham Clinton Will be the next President of the United States of America.

[infidel_us]

''McCain Secures GOP Nomination''

Thanks to the LAMEstream media. They got what they wanted. If there''s any justice in the world, McCan''t will win in November.

[mbcsmith]

Refute the points. But you can''''t as the majority of Republicans believe in those things I listed in one degree or another. Mention unions, g a y s or welfare and conservatives start foaming at the mouth in hatred.



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Posted by rafterman1 at 10:15 AM : Mar 05, 2008


You''ve been drinking the moron.org kool-aid again. LIB LIES are the norm. Repeat them enough and you will believe them. Your puppet master George Soros will provide your one world order. Your taxes will be paid directly to the United Nations.

[jersupporter]

If you love America and what it stands for, then you must despise George Bush, who stands against everything the country stands for. Posted by rafterman1
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I do not always look for handouts (like dummycrats), so therefore I make no excuses with the elected leadership. Individuals that simmer with hatred are prime examples of wasted energy and are pathetic whiners with no action. So continue to complain about the heat when you have no job and think others should pay your heating bill. Get a job and create rather than breakdown others due to your lack of initiative. Just like these Vet Wards of the US.

[jersupporter]

Refute the points. But you can''''t as the majority of Republicans believe in those things I listed in one degree or another. Mention unions, g a y s or welfare and conservatives start foaming at the mouth in hatred. Posted by rafterman1
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You are just afraid of what really is important - protection from Islamic extremism, victorious in Iraq, confident in trade, and a sound economy. Your a$$ licking rim job comments mean nothing since dummycrats are lower class citizens that waste away their money on votes for American Idol. You are P I S S I N G into the wind, yet are still dumb enough to not turn around. Rank and file Dummycrats