McCain Dominates Big States

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McCain, Huckabee Score Important Wins

Voters in 24 states and American Samoa headed to the polls on Feb. 5 for the largest-ever "Super Tuesday" election. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) racked up crucial early primary victories from New York to California, while former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee won a series of contests in the South.

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Speaking before the results in California had come in, Romney told supporters in Boston that "the one thing that is clear is that this campaign is going on." He said that "there are some people who thought it was all going to be done tonight," but he pledged to "go all the way to the convention, and we're going to win this thing."

With a little more than half of the delegates allocated after midnight, McCain had collected 420 delegates, compared with 130 for Romney, 99 for Huckabee and 5 for Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.), according to an Associated Press count. Once delegates from California and other states that had not completely reported are included, Republican strategists expected McCain will easily top 500. He entered yesterday's contests with 102 delegates from previous victories.

But even if he can ultimately dispatch Romney and Huckabee in the coming weeks, McCain still has a difficult task persuading core Republican voters to stand with him. Many conservative leaders and talk-show hosts remain angered by McCain's 2000 denunciation of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, his votes against Bush's tax cuts and his attempts to liberalize immigration laws.

Among self-described conservatives voting yesterday, exit polling showed that McCain lost to Romney or Huckabee in many states, a sign that the anger and mistrust vented on talk shows in recent days is shared by many of the party faithful. In California, Romney held a double-digit lead over McCain among conservative voters. Romney even won conservative voters in McCain's home state of Arizona.

"He's got to come out of this feeling good, but I'm sure he can't feel that the cat's in the bag," former House majority leader Richard K. Armey (R-Tex.) said of McCain.

"Like everything else in his life, John McCain continues to do things the hard way," said former Republican National Committee chairman Rich Bond, a McCain supporter. The victory in California, Bond added, makes it hard for Romney to catch McCain now. Without it, "he's got Mission Impossible in front of him."

Romney did better among late-deciding voters than he did among those who had made up their minds before the past few days, a sign that his relentless attacks leading to Super Tuesday may have succeeded in painting McCain as a liberal on immigration, campaign finance, taxes and energy policy. Exit polls showed that Romney swamped McCain among voters who consider illegal immigration the most important issue.

Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said that the campaign has had "robust fundraising" in the past week, and that that after yesterday's blitz of primary and caucus votes, the calendar favors his candidate. Campaign officials planned to meet tomorrow to map a strategy for the primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District.

But the voting did not appear to indicate much support for the principal argument advanced by Romney's campaign in recent weeks -- that a former venture capitalist is better equipped to steer the country away from a possible recession. McCain came out on top among voters most worried about the economy, as well as with those who said Iraq and terrorism are their top concerns.

McCain and Romney have clashed for weeks over foreign policy and the economy as other rivals dropped out and the race narrowed. McCain has argued that his decades of experience in foreign policy qualify him as a wartime president. Romney seized on the nation's worsening economy as proof that his experience in the business world is what the country needs.

A multimillionaire, Romney has spent more than $35 million of his fortune in pursuing the presidency. But his long-planned strategy to win early-voting states fizzled, with Huckabee winning the Iowa caucuses and McCain the New Hampshire primary. Romney refused to concede the nomination to McCain as the acrimonious campaign continued into South Carolina and Florida.

Even before voting began, Romney's campaign vowed to continue on, saying the candidate will attend an annual conference of GOP conservatives this week in Washington -- a venue that aides said he will use to highlight McCain's struggles with the party base.