With Romney Gone, What Will McCain Do?

By Adam Nagourney

If there was ever much doubt that Senator John McCain of Arizona was going to win the Republican presidential nomination after Super Tuesday, it was pretty much eliminated with the decision by Mitt Romney of Massachusetts to drop out the race this afternoon.
Mr. McCain is now left with one serious opponent – Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas. Mr. Huckabee has proved this year to be an articulate and affable candidate, and his surprise showing in winning a half-dozen Southern states on Tuesday was one reason that Mr. Romney bowed to what was inarguably the inevitable and quit.
But Mr. Huckabee is a candidate with some shortcomings – in particular, his lack of experience in foreign affairs – and, more significant, not much money to soldier on. What is more, Mr. McCain has a big lead in delegates coming out of Tuesday night, and under party rules, Mr. Huckabee would have tough job catching up even if he had the money to do so.
The question now for Mr. McCain is how far he needs go now in reaching out to conservatives who have been wary of him – if not flat out opposed to him – given his history on issues like easing immigration restrictions and changing campaign finance laws. Mr. Romney was arguably Mr. McCain’s greatest threat on the right and his greatest impetus for moving right; now that he is gone, some of the motivation for moving right is gone.Mr. McCain, who will address the Conservative Political Action Committee later in the afternoon, has a slightly different task now. He cannot win a general election without having the unambiguous support of conservatives around him – especially going up against a Democratic Party that is so, to borrow a phrase from Barack Obama, fired up and ready to go.
But the extent to which he emphasizes conservative positions could complicate his effort to win over the moderate and independent voters who have so long been drawn by Mr. McCain and is one of the reasons why many Democrats view him as the toughest candidate the Republicans have.
As for Mr. Romney, he was a candidate who many Republicans had long thought would in the end emerge as the party’s nominee. The reason for this was obvious to anyone who spent time with him: He was a strong presence on the campaign trail, unusually smart and articulate, and had a command of issues that comes from having spent so much time preparing for this moment.
But Mr. Romney somehow always came across better in person than he did on television, and that cut increasingly against him as the campaign moved on. But Mr. Romney’s change over such key issues as abortion rights, stem cell research and gay rights was jarring to people who had watched him as governor in Massachusetts, and even more to Republican voters who began to see clips that illustrated his differing views, thanks to YouTube and Mr. Romney’s opponents.
Altogether, it conveyed an image of inauthenticity that would have been problematic in any election year – but particularly this year, and particularly going against Mr. McCain. That, more than anything else, proved to be the obstacle Mr. Romney could not overcome.

**** **** ***
Em destaque: Os porquês da desistência do candidato Mitt Romney e os desafios propostos a McCain, para angariar os delegados mais conservadores do partido Republicano.

Fonte: The New York Times
Publicação: 7 de fevereiro 2008
Autor: Adam Nagourney
Link: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/with-romney-gone-what-will-mccain-do/index.html?hp