Sen. John McCain, the fire-brand GOP maverick who often upsets the "apple cart" in his own party, will be the Republican nominee for President in 2008.
McCain who needed to secure 1,191 delegates, has four more than that tonight. He went over the top, by winning in all four states holding primaries today, Vermont, Rhode Island, Ohio and finally Texas.
The outcome was unlikely just three months ago, with McCain out of money and well down "in the weeds" according to most political pollsters. An improbable comeback wind in New Hampshire, breathed new life into his campaign, after he finished fourth in Iowa.
Tonight McCain walked out on stage to the music of "Eye of the Tiger" the sane song Rocky Balboa used in his comeback victory over Mr. T in Rocky III. He thanked his final challenger, former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR) who earlier tonight dropped out of the race and gave McCain his backing. "We stayed in the race until it was over," Huckabee said. "We kept the faith!" he said to a cheering crowd.
McCain was humbled by the nomination. "I owe my country every opportunity I ever had," said the former Vietnam War P.O.W. who was held prisoner and tortured over five years.
Without naming names, he clearly took a few swipes at his two reaming Democratic opponents, who are deadlocked tonight. In a reference to the Democrats intra-party squabble over NAFTA, the highly criticized trade deal, McCain said, "I'll leave it to my opponents to abrogate trade treaties." And in an obvious swipe at Barack Obama, known for his lofty and inspiring speeches, McCain said the Democrats offer "platitudes instead of principles."
The crowd was pelted with balloons and confetti as John and Cindy McCain shook people's hands as the victory music blared!
The Democrats meantime were locked in a knock-down drag-out fight. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) won in Vermont, but had lost a tiny lead in Texas. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) won Rhode Island and won a close race in Ohio. Clinton no doubt, will claim a big comeback victory, and it appears warranted just when Obama had her on the ropes.
She did well enough to keep pace and stay in the race. Why? Exit polls showed that "late deciders" went 66% for Clinton and 34% for Obama. That means TV ads wondering "who" could handle a 3 a.m. crisis call at the White House helped her cause, and hurt his.
Union households, where her support recently eroded, went 56% for Clinton to 33% for Obama. That means many union members are clearly concerned about recent attacks on Obama as being "weak" on the NAFTA trade deal, and perhaps unwilling to amend it to help unions.
In her victory speech from Ohio, Sen. Clinton said to her supporters that they "who work hard and never give up. This one's for you!" She went on to say, "This nation is coming back and so is this campaign." The crowd went wild!
In his concession speech from San Antonio, Sen. Barack Obama downplayed his losses. "We have nearly the same delegate lead we had this morning and we are on the way to winning this nomination," he said. He was right on the delegate count, but may be wrong about the momentum.
Since no knock out punch was scored tonight, the Democratic contest marches on with the next big primary six weeks away in heavily unionized Pennsylvania. Wyoming and Mississippi have smaller primaries in the next week that are now assured of getting huge national attention.
Tonight Republicans were happy about that. They could unify and plan strategy for November, while Democrats brace for what could be a bruising and very expensive fight to a potentially brokered convention in August.
I will be "live" from Dallas on KTVU's "Mornings on Two" with Ross McGowan Wednesday morning at 7:45.
Also tomorrow, an all-new blog entry. I interviewed two Texas Congressmen tonight (one of whom was a P.O.W. with John McCain). Hear their views and strategy tomorrow at www.MarkCurtisMedia.com.
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