On The HUSTINGS

By Staff Reporter of the Sun | February 15, 2008

ROMNEY OFFERS CHILLY ENDORSEMENT OF McCAIN

A week after dropping out of the presidential race, Mitt Romney is throwing his weight behind the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator McCain of Arizona. "I am honored to give my full support to Senator McCain's candidacy for the presidency of the United States," Mr. Romney said as he stood alongside Mr. McCain at a news conference in Boston yesterday. "There's no question in my mind this individual should be the next president of the United States, not Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton."

The body language between Messrs. McCain and Romney was noticeably cool, but they insisted there was no ill will. "There's always strong disagreement, but—and there may have been, but it was always characterized by respect and appreciation for Governor Romney," Mr. McCain said. "I respect him enormously, and I think he ran a very tough, good campaign."

Mr. Romney asked his delegates to support Mr. McCain. If all were to do so, that would put the Arizona senator at about 1120 delegates, closing in on the 1191 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. The only other Republican with a sizeable number of delegates, Michael Huckabee, insisted yesterday that he would press on even though it is almost impossible to see how he could overtake the Arizona senator. "I am in this race until someone gets to 1,191 delegates. That has not happened yet, and so I will keep campaigning for the Republican nomination. Period," Mr. Huckabee said.

BLACK CLINTON SUPERDELEGATES FEEL TORN

A Georgia Congressman who supported Senator Clinton but whose largely African American district voted overwhelmingly for Senator Obama, Rep. David Scott, said he plans to back Mr. Obama at the Democratic convention. "You've got to represent the wishes of your constituency," Mr. Scott told the Associated Press. Another Georgia congressman, John Lewis, was said to be torn about whether to abandon his early endorsement of Mrs. Clinton. "It could happen with a lot of people," he said. "We can count and we see the clock." Meanwhile, a superdelegate from New Jersey active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons, Christine Samuels, fell in behind Mr. Obama yesterday after having been in the Clinton fold.

CLINTON VICTORIOUS IN NEW MEXICO

Nine days after the polls closed in New Mexico, Democratic officials there announced that Mrs. Clinton narrowly defeated Mr. Obama. She got 73,105 votes, or 49%, to 71, 396, or 48%, for the Illinois senator. He will get 12 delegates, while she takes 14. A hand count of ballots was conducted to determine the result of the state's contest, which is a hybrid of a caucus and a primary.

POLL FINDS BIG CLINTON LEADS IN OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA

Mrs. Clinton is hanging on to a healthy lead over Mr. Obama in Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to polls taken by Quinnipiac University. In Ohio, which votes March 4, she led her rival by 55% to 34%. In Pennsylvania, Mrs. Clinton was ahead 52% to 36%. The surveys took place before the results were in from Tuesday's primaries Maryland, Virginia, and the nation's capital, which Mr. Obama swept.

OBAMA AD DENIES DEBATE-DUCKING

A day after Mrs. Clinton began running a TV ad in Wisconsin accusing him of refusing to debate there, Mr. Obama's camp responded with one accusing her campaign of deception. "After 18 debates, with two more coming, Hillary says Barack Obama is ducking debates?" the ad says as images from the previous exchanges clutter the screen. "It's the same old politics, of phony charges and false attacks." The commercial goes on to note that one of President Clinton's labor secretaries, Robert Reich, has defended Mr. Obama's health plan. While there have been 18 Democratic debates, only one was a one-on-one exchange between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton.