Despite a string of victories the Republican front runner fails to deliver a knock-out punch to rival Mitt Romney , writes Denis Staunton
Republican vote
John McCain yesterday urged his conservative critics to calm down and unite around him after a string of Super Tuesday victories moved him closer to winning the Republican nomination.
"I do hope that at some point we would just calm down a little bit and see if there are areas that we can agree on for the good of the party and for the good of the country," he said.
McCain racked up hundreds of delegates in "winner takes all" primaries on Tuesday, including big states in the northeast and the most populous state of all, California.
He failed to deliver a knock-out punch to rival Mitt Romney, however, and saw Mike Huckabee make a surprise comeback to win states across the south.
McCain won easily in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, after being endorsed by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and won comfortably in California, where governor Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed him. He also won Missouri, Arizona, Illinois, Oklahoma and Delaware. "Tonight, I think we must get used to the idea that we are the Republican Party front runner for the nomination of president of the United States. And I don't really mind it one bit," he told supporters in Phoenix.
Mike Huckabee's victories in Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and West Virginia were a blow to Mitt Romney, who had hoped to emerge as the sole conservative challenger to McCain.
Huckabee, who defeated Romney in Iowa last month despite being outspent by at least 10 to one, relished his latest triumph when he spoke to supporters in Little Rock.
"Over the past few days, a lot of people have been saying this is a two-man race. And you know what? It is. And we're in it," Huckabee said.
"Tonight, we are making sure America understands that sometimes one small smooth stone is even more effective than a whole lot of armour. And we have also seen that "The Widow's Mite" has more effectiveness than all the gold in the world."
Romney managed to keep McCain at bay in his home state of Massachusetts and won Utah, Minnesota, Montana, Colorado, North Dakota and Alaska. He insisted that he was determined to stay in the race "all the way to the convention, and we're going to win this thing".
Huckabee's wins in the south may slow down McCain's progress towards the nomination, but by helping to neutralise Romney's challenge, Huckabee is helping the front runner.
McCain is confident of winning three big contests next week, in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, but he cancelled a planned trip to Germany so that he could stay at home campaigning.
His chief challenge on the way to the nomination is the distrust many conservatives feel towards him, which has found noisy expression on radio talk shows across the country.
"I think they've made their case against me pretty eloquently if that's the right word," he said yesterday.
For the first time this year, McCain ran first in a few states among self-identified Republicans, as well as running strongly among independents. Romney won the votes of about four in 10 of those who described themselves as conservative.
McCain won about one-third of that group, and Huckabee about one in five.
In California, Romney held a double-digit lead over McCain among conservative voters and the former Massachusetts governor even won conservative voters in McCain's home state of Arizona.
The voters showed little support for the principal argument advanced by Romney's campaign in recent weeks - that the former businessman is better equipped to steer the country away from a possible recession.
McCain came out on top among voters most worried about the economy, as well as with those who said Iraq and terrorism are their top concerns.
The battle between McCain and Romney has grown increasingly bitter in recent weeks, with McCain accusing Romney of being weak on the war in Iraq and Romney accusing him of dishonesty. Relations between McCain and Huckabee, on the other hand, could not be more cordial and Huckabee promised a civilised and gentlemanly contest if Romney stepped aside.
In a worrying sign for Republicans, turnout was much lower in their primaries than in the Democrats', a trend that has been consistent throughout the primary season and suggests an uphill struggle for any Republican nominee in November.
Democrats are already assuming that McCain will be the Republican nominee and Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have each claimed to be best placed to defeat him.