McCain seeks conservative support for Republican bid
Republican John McCain was seeking support Saturday from conservative party stalwarts hesitant about fully backing his presidential bid, as rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama moved to new states in their battle for the Democratic party nomination.
McCain has his party's nomination to run in the November 4 presidential election largely sewn up after top rival Mitt Romney quit on Thursday. The two remaining Republican candidates, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Texas Representative Ron Paul, have not won enough delegates to be considered serious contenders.
The veteran Arizona senator, 71, has a solid conservative voting record, but has enraged the key Republican conservative constituency by his campaign finance reform, his conciliatory stand on immigration, and his initial opposition to President George W. Bush's huge tax cuts.
In a sign of this unease, Huckabee -- who has one-third of the delegates McCain has -- was endorsed Friday by James Dobson, founder of the influential Focus on the Family evangelical group.
Dobson said Huckabee's "unwavering positions on the social issues, notably the institution of marriage, the importance of faith and the sanctity of human life, resonate deeply with me and with many others."
Huckabee's name is being mentioned increasingly as a possible vice-presidential choice for McCain.
However former Tennessee senator and television star Fred Thompson, who earlier dropped out of the Republican nominating race, formally endorsed McCain on Friday.
To help heal the rift, Bush appeared at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in the US capital and tried to whip up support for McCain, his unsuccessful rival in the 2000 Republican presidential primaries.
"Prosperity and peace are in the balance," Bush told supporters.
"So with confidence in our vision and faith in our values, let us go forward, fight for victory, and keep the White House in 2008," he said.
Bush has not yet openly backed a candidate, but said he will get behind the Republican party's choice.
McCain, a Vietnam war hero, got a mixed reception when he addressed the CPAC conference on Thursday, with catcalls and boos mixed in with cheers.
Among Democrats, both Clinton and Obama moved their campaigns to the far north-eastern state of Maine on Saturday, ahead of Sunday's Democratic primary in that state.
Washington state and Louisiana were holding primary elections Saturday for Republicans and Democrats, Nebraska Democratic primaries, and Kansas Republican caucuses.
Clinton and Obama will then rush to rallies in the states of Virginia and Maryland, as well as the District of Columbia (the US capital's formal name), which hold Republican and Democratic primaries on Tuesday.
Clinton focused on her universal health care plan as she met voters at a town hall-style rally in Tacoma, in the north-western state of Washington on Friday.
Obama campaigned Friday in Seattle, while his wife Michelle campaigned for him in Spokane, both in Washington state.
Clinton's campaign said it refilled its war chest with eight million dollars, including money from tens of thousands of new donors, since Tuesday's key nominating votes in more than 20 states.
The former first lady was earlier forced to lend five million dollars of her own money to her campaign.
Obama announced on Thursday he had raked in seven million dollars since Tuesday.
The 2008 White House race is already the costliest ever. The Center for Responsive Politics research group estimates the candidates will raise a billion dollars in 2008, a first for a presidential election.
And as Clinton and Obama chase support from the 2,025 delegates needed to secure the nomination at the party's August convention, every remaining primary now counts.
A tally by independent pollsters RealClearPolitics on Saturday put Clinton only marginally ahead in the delegate count, with 1,075 to Obama's 1,006. More than 400 delegates are up for grabs in the seven upcoming votes.
Obama has agreed to two televised debates with Clinton, one in Texas and the other in Ohio, which have primary nominating votes set for March 4.
AFP
