Loss points to McCain's conservative difficulty

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain's aides downplayed a thumping from Mike Huckabee in Kansas's caucuses Saturday, calling it a small bump on an inevitable road to the Republican presidential nomination. But the loss again underscored McCain's problems with staunch conservatives in his party.

Kansas weighed in first on a day in which Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois continued their back-and-forth fight for the nomination. Both parties had yet to complete Saturday caucuses in Washington state and primaries in Louisiana. Democrats also held a Saturday caucus in Nebraska.

McCain has roughly three-fifths of the delegates necessary to win the GOP nomination and leads Huckabee more than 3-to-1.

Anti-abortion activists and other social conservatives have had a big role in the Kansas GOP, and some of Huckabee's supporters say his appeal to them was a key to his victory in Saturday's lightly attended caucuses. Those who did vote chose the former Arkansas governor over McCain by more than 2-to-1, ignoring an endorsement of McCain by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who earlier dropped his bid for the nomination. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, finished third.

Huckabee's campaign chairman, Ed Rollins, and manager, Chip Saltzman, sent reporters a memo Saturday outlining how Huckabee could still win the nomination.

"The Republican National Convention is seven long months away; a lot can happen in that much time. A lot will happen," they wrote.

But other Huckabee supporters also realize that McCain's lead in delegates makes a Huckabee nomination unlikely. Primaries on Tuesday in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia are likely to push McCain closer to clinching the GOP nomination, although Huckabee hopes to win in Virginia after winning five Southern states on Super Tuesday.

"We don't have any delusions. We know it is a long road and Huckabee is the underdog of underdogs," said Lucas Roebuck, a spokesman for the Internet group HucksArmy.com, which is separate from the campaign.