McCain's Super Tuesday
Posted: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 1:01 AM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy
PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Just a few minutes before John McCain was scheduled to speak here at the Biltmore Hotel, the crowd was relatively subdued. Slightly older and well sated by food and drink, there had been surprisingly little cheering, chanting and screaming throughout the night when a news network called a state for McCain.
Not unlike many members of the media, it seemed the audience here was still trying to figure out how to judge a victory in this near-national primary, but when McCain finally did come out and began his speech he immediately addressed their confusion.
"We've won primaries in the west, the south, the Midwest, and the northeast," McCain said, trying to put the scope of their victory into perspective. "And although I've never minded the role of the underdog and have relished as much as anyone come from behind wins, tonight, I think we must get used to the idea that we are the Republican Party frontrunner for the nomination for President of the United States."
Frontrunner was the only word that the audience heard, and it was enough to end their silence. A chant broke out as the audience began repeating, "Mac is Back" -- the popular mantra that has come to epitomize McCain's rise from the political ashes.
McCain won in most of the places where he was expected to win, and competed in most of the states where he was expected to be competitive. He eked out a narrow victory in Missouri, a state where all of the GOP candidates competed, and he surprised some people with a sizeable win in Oklahoma.
"I am, as is often reported, a little superstitious, so I don't want to make any exaggerated predictions, and there's still a long road ahead," McCain said of his victories. "However, it's fair to say we might have come a little closer today to the day that mothers in Arizona might be able to tell their children that someday they could grow up to be President of the United States."
McCain was referring to a joke he often makes on the campaign trail about the lack of U.S. presidents from Arizona, a fact he hopes to change if he can outlast Romney and Huckabee in what now promises to be an even longer nomination process. Acknowledging his opposition, McCain offered a "salute" to both of his opponents.
During his ode to Huckabee, there were murmurs in the crowd that the kind words might be indicative of McCain's thoughts on the governor as a VP candidate. Needless to say no such murmurs arose during his notably colder salute to Romney.
"This election, like any election, is a rough and tumble business," McCain said. "We all want to win. We fight as hard as we can to do it. But I have respect for people who are willing to accept the extraordinary demands, all the ups and downs, of such a tough and long contest. And Governor Romney has mine."
McCain heads back to Washington DC tomorrow and has plans to speak at the C-PAC conference at the end of the week. His campaign had been focusing on getting through today, and now that the polls are all closed, there has been no indication of how confident they are with their candidate's new 'frontrunner' status or how it will effect their campaign strategy going forward.
