McCain calls for support from critics in party

BOOSTED by his big night, John McCain asked his loudest conservative critics yesterday to “calm down” and support his Republican presidential candidacy.

Mr McCain was referring to radio talk show hosts and other pundits of the right when he appealed for unity now that he has a leg up in the nomination race.

“I think they’ve made their case against me pretty eloquently,” he said, adding wryly “if that’s the right word”. He asserted that the pundits’ conservative hero Ronald Reagan — and his — reached across the aisle to Democrats just like he wants to do as president.

“I do hope that at some point we would just calm down a little bit and see if there are areas that we can agree on for the good of the party and for the good of the country,” he said. The critics argue he is too liberal for the party.

Mr McCain piled up more delegates than his two rivals combined and pushed past the halfway mark toward what is needed to clinch the nomination. His victories stretched from New York to California, the biggest prize. Still, Mitt Romney in the West and Mike Huckabee in the South proved to be go-to candidates for conservatives, and they vowed to stay in the thick of the race.

On Saturday, Louisiana and Washington state hold two-party contests while Nebraska Democrats and Kansas Republicans make their picks. Then comes a larger series of two-party primaries in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia (DC) on Tuesday.

Republicans will award 116 delegates in the trio of races dubbed the Potomac Primary.

Mr Romney enjoyed his first night at home in a month and then drove himself, his wife Ann and his son Craig to his office overlooking Boston Harbour for a strategy session with aides. “Got some good sleep,” he said.

Mr McCain’s victory in California dealt a crushing blow to his closest pursuer, Mr Romney, a former Massachusetts governor.

In the competition that counted the most, the Arizona senator had 613 delegates, to 269 for Mr Romney and 190 for Mr Huckabee in incomplete counting. It takes 1,191 to win the GOP nomination.

Interviews with voters suggested subtle shifts in the political landscape.

For the first time this year, Mr McCain ran first in a few states among self-identified Republicans.