McCain Says He'll Have "Respectful" Debate with Huckabee
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With the news of Mitt Romney suspending his campaign today, the dynamics of the GOP race have shifted. Mike Huckabee is the only candidate who has won primaries that he has to compete with.
When asked about the sudden one-on-one with Huckabee, McCain said he thought it would be a "respectful" debate between the two even though they have differences on issues like taxes and health care.
Going into Super Tuesday the McCain campaign knew the fight for the nomination would continue after the voting was done. But their focus was on Romney and their plan was to make it hard for Romney and to push him to drop out.
"At the end of the day we will not have enough delegates for the nomination but we will make it hard for him," McCain adviser Steve Schmidt told reporters on McCain's plane on Tuesday.
Then yesterday, McCain advisor Charlie Black had tallied the delegate count and highlighted an uphill battle for Romney and Huckabee in catching McCain. "It is virtually impossible for Romney or Huckabee to be the nominee based on the arithmetic," he said.
On Huckabee's wins in five states, Black had only respectful words for the Governor. "In the states that he won, he has great appeal. It's his home base, he's an attractive candidate. At the end of the day we give him all the credit," he said.
Black also noted that the states Huckabee won, McCain did little or no advertising and didn't run much of a campaign due to a lack of funds. While some of those states were close between Huckabee and McCain, Black says they don't regret their efforts because there were no other option available to them.
Even after his formidable lead after Super Tuesday, McCain still adjusted his schedule, cancelling a trip to a conference in Munich to stay to campaign in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Kansas.
"Hopefully we can wrap this thing up, unite the party and be ready to take on the Democratic nominee in November," he said.
Later this afternoon, McCain addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. He has been under fire by some conservatives for working with Democrats and, most recently, for campaigning with Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.