McCain shifts focus of campaign

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The John McCain campaign is moving on, with or without Mike Huckabee in the race.

But veteran conservative activist Paul Weyrich and other like-minded conservatives aren't ready to let him cruise to the nomination so easily.

Weyrich, a former Mitt Romney supporter, voted in Virginia's Republican presidential primary on Tuesday for Huckabee — even though he knows McCain will be his party's nominee. Weyrich called conservative support for Huckabee "the one chance we have to send a message that he (McCain) needs to accommodate conservatives if he expects to win."

McCain escaped Virginia with a closer-than-expected victory and easily won Maryland and the District of Columbia to sweep Tuesday's "Potomac primary."

At a Holiday Inn ballroom here, McCain congratulated Huckabee for making things "maybe a little too interesting at times tonight," and then quickly moved on to the "much bigger decision" — referring to a fall presidential campaign.

Striking a conservative theme, McCain said the Democratic nominee — whether it is Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama — will insist that "the solution to government's failures is to simply make it bigger."

The Arizona senator is now focused less on Huckabee than on finding common ground with conservatives who have criticized him on subjects ranging from immigration to his temper.

Senior McCain adviser Charles Black said that while he and other campaign aides respect Huckabee's decision to stay in the race, "we're proceeding ahead with our party unity efforts."

As voters trekked to the polls, McCain spoke with colleagues at a Senate Republican policy lunch — some of whom have also fought with him.

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, who has drawn McCain's scorn on the campaign trail for funding his pet projects with federal money, said after the lunch: "I always support the nominee of our party — yes, I told him that."

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, once cursed by McCain during an argument over immigration, joked that the nominee-in-waiting "certainly has a way of expressing himself."

McCain, Cornyn added, is a true conservative on such issues as national security, cutting wasteful spending and nominating conservative federal judges.

McCain, whose outreach efforts began last week with a speech to a conference of conservative activists, is scheduled to meet today with House Republicans. The senator also is to conduct a conference call with bloggers from around the country. McCain isn't scheduled to visit Wisconsin — site of a primary next week — until Friday.

Huckabee said he will be in Wisconsin today, and hopes to benefit from conservative anti-pathy toward McCain.

Meeting with reporters Tuesday, Huckabee stressed his opposition to embryonic stem cell research and campaign-finance legislation, both of which McCain supported and drew conservatives' fire as a result.

Huckabee said he expects the party to coalesce around McCain "if he's the nominee." The question is how hard members would work for him in the fall. "What I don't know is, will he be able to energize the base of the party?" Huckabee said.

The odds remain very much against Huckabee.

Before Tuesday's races, an Associated Press count gave McCain 729 delegates to 241 for Huckabee. The former Arkansas governor would have to win more than 80% of the remaining delegates to capture the nomination, and that assumes none of Mitt Romney's 288 delegates votes for McCain.

Despite his losses, Huckabee said it would be a disservice to voters who haven't had a chance to vote yet if he dropped out of the race. "So we march on," he said.

Whether Huckabee can win, though, isn't the point, some of his conservative supporters say.

James McDonald, a retired lawyer from Fairfax County, Va., said he voted for Huckabee not so much to support him, but "to keep this thing going so we can eventually convince (McCain) to drop his amnesty plan."

McCain has been criticized for supporting a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, but he has said he would focus on sealing the borders before taking up any other measures.

At his election-night headquarters, more than 100 supporters watched warily as the results came in and erupted in cheers when CNN called the Virginia race for McCain.

Weyrich, chairman and CEO of the conservative think tank Free Congress Foundation, called McCain's victory "unfortunate" because it takes some of the pressure off the Arizona senator.

"If he's wise, he will listen to conservatives," Weyrich said. "I'll believe it when I see it."