McCAIN NIXES EUROPE TRIP, SKIPS STIMULUS VOTE

Adopting an itinerary that would be considered more conventional for an American presidential candidate, Senator McCain said he plans to stay stateside during his attempt to lock up the Republican nomination in the coming days, foregoing a planned trip to Europe this weekend. “Hopefully, we can wrap this thing up, unite the party, and be able to take on the Democratic nominee in November,” Mr. McCain told reporters yesterday. “I think we’ve got to wrap this thing up as quickly as possible.”

Mr. McCain had planned to meet with Prime Minister Brown in London and then travel on to Munich to speak at a conference about security issues and future of NATO.

The Arizona senator also skipped yesterday’s vote on an expanded version of the economic stimulus package, avoiding a decision that would have forced him to choose between supporting billions of dollars in added spending or opposing additional aid for low-income seniors. Democrats fell two votes short of advancing the measure, and the Associated Press reported that Mr. McCain decided to miss the vote at the last minute after his plane had landed in Washington. He has voiced general support for the stimulus package, but he has railed against wasteful spending. The Clinton campaign issued a statement saying Mr. McCain had “let our families down.”

NEW PLAN FOR CALIFORNIA ELECTORAL VOTES FAILS

A ballot measure to allocate California’s 55 electoral votes by congressional district, instead of the winner-take-all system presently used, will not go before voters this year. Proponents failed to meet a Monday deadline to turn in 400,000 signatures.

Backers of the plan said it would bring presidential candidates to California in the general election, but opponents blasted the measure as a power grab designed to benefit Republican presidential candidates. Some of the measure’s supporters were attacked by Democrats who pointed out ties to the now-defunct presidential campaign of Mayor Giuliani.

OBAMA, CLINTON BREAK ICE ON SENATE FLOOR

Senators Clinton and Obama, who had what many viewed as a chilly encounter at the State of the Union address last week, had a more jovial exchange yesterday on the Senate floor. Senator Kennedy, whose endorsement of Mr. Obama was the apparent cause of the awkwardness last week, approached Mrs. Clinton yesterday to joke about the Patriots loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl and the Illinois senator coming up short in the Massachusetts primary on Tuesday. As group of senators gathered around, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama chatted briefly and exchanged some loud laughs, the Washington Post reported.

ENDORSEMENT WATCH

A former Wisconsin governor who ended his presidential bid last summer is endorsing Senator McCain. After Tommy Thompson’s White House run failed to gain traction, he backed Mr. Giuliani, but yesterday the ex-governor said Mr. McCain’s “conservative record and personal leadership qualities give us the best chance of defeating the Democrats in November.” Mr. Thompson served as the secretary of health and human services during President Bush’s first term. His endorsement comes two weeks before the Wisconsin primary, February 19.

AD WATCH

With his two top opponents refusing to concede, Mr. McCain is launching television ads in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., which make up the so-called Potomac Primary on February 12. The Arizona senator will rotate three spots that he has run previously in other states. Two of them highlight his service in Vietnam and his record as a “true conservative,” while the third goes after Mitt Romney, who has thus far failed to consolidate the conservative vote against Mr. McCain. The ad uses video clips of Mr. Romney distancing himself from the Reagan legacy in 1994 to paint the former Massachusetts governor, who now heaps praise on Mr. Reagan, as a flip-flopper.