Despite GOP's Push for McCain, Huckabee Won't Pull Out of Race

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McCain Vows to Compete in Maryland

Sen. John McCain, along with former Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R-Md.), vows to compete for the presidential nomination in the traditionally democratic state of Maryland.

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But McCain's campaign strategists do not believe Huckabee's presence will create the kind of damage that Ronald Reagan did when he challenged President Gerald R. Ford in 1976 or that Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) did to President Jimmy Carter four years later. Both incumbents were weakened by protracted nomination battles and lost in the general election.

By contrast, McCain's losses in conservative areas now could make him more palatable to some moderates in the general election, aides argue. And the continued focus on Huckabee gives McCain time to build his national organization out of the spotlight, one aide said.

"I don't mind having the time that comes with this," an aide said. "It slows down the pace of the game."

Huckabee aides aren't optimistic about winning any of the states in Tuesday's primaries, though they are competing hard in Virginia, and further losses make it closer to mathematically impossible for Huckabee to win the GOP nomination.

But Huckabee seems determined to compete until that is officially the case. His aides said while he has only about $1 million in cash on hand, he's raising about $150,000 a day, enough to continue running his campaign. A competition for Wisconsin comes Feb. 19, but the real focus is Texas on March 4.

In a series of television and campaign appearances Monday, Huckabee and his aides and supporters pushed back against the idea of an early departure. On Saturday, he joked that he planned to stay in because, "I have nowhere to go, right?"

"Even many McCain supporters have told us that they appreciate the constructive role that Governor Huckabee can play in the months to come, because a vigorous discussion will keep all the media 'oxygen' from migrating over to the Democratic contest," Huckabee chairman Ed Rollins and campaign manager Chip Saltsman wrote to supporters.

Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.), one of five members of Congress to endorse Huckabee, said Monday that he has heard nothing from McCain backers about Huckabee dropping out. Nor, he said, should he.

Competition will help hone McCain's message and battle-test him for the general election, Inglis said, adding that Huckabee has energized a wing of the Republican Party and could be an attractive running mate.

"He'd bring some excitement to the ticket and a dimension that seems to be in short supply in Republican circles -- the ability to talk about issues of the heart, to express emotions, passion and understanding for people of ordinary means," Inglis said. "That's what Mike Huckabee has in bucketfuls."

Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.), another Huckabee supporter, agreed. "John McCain went from being nowhere last August," Linder said. "He had the gumption to pull himself into this race all by himself. He's not going to be embarrassed by this."

But Huckabee still has a delicate job -- drawing distinctions with McCain on the stump while not going too far or attacking him by name. His stump speech now has a heavy emphasis on not allowing a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants and his support of constitutional bans on same-sex marriage and abortion -- positions that contrast with those of McCain.

"What has the Senate done lately, other than try to put before you an immigration bill you hated so much you burned and melted their phone lines until they finally got the message that they work for us, it's not the other way around?" he said to loud applause Monday.

Staff writers Michael D. Shear and Juliet Eilperin contributed to this report.