McCain clinches Repbulican nomination

By Sasha Issenberg, Globe staff

DALLAS — John McCain formally clinched the Republican nomination — and took charge of the party’s national campaign machine — as four states, including two of the nation’s largest, all went into his column.

Former governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas dropped out of the race and pledged his support to McCain after the outcome became clear.

McCain won primaries in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island, and Vermont by overwhelming margins, according to projections by news organizations.

The senator from Arizona entered the day with 1,014 elected delegates, according to an estimate released today by the Associated Press. The wins in the four primaries raised his total well above the 1,191 needed to win the nomination.

‘‘It’s a very humbling experience,’’ McCain said after the scope of his victory became clear. ‘‘I do not underestimate the significance nor the size of the challenge.’’ He was heading to Washington to visit the White House and accept a show of support from President Bush.

‘‘The big battle’s to come,’’ McCain said of the general election. He said he had no plan to resign from the Senate to campaign, but planned to consider such a move.

‘‘Thank you Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island,’’ McCain told supporters at his victory celebration in Dallas. ‘‘I am very grateful for the broad support you have given me.’’

He declared that he had won enough delegates to ‘‘claim with confidence, humility, and a great deal of responsibility that I will be the nominee.’’

In his concession speech, Huckabee said he called McCain to congratulate him and offer his support for a united party.

Huckabee said he was proud that he and McCain ran civil and honorable campaigns. ‘‘It’s been one we will always be able to say we ran with honor,’’ he told supporters in Irving, Texas.

Huckabee had said repeatedly that he would remain in the race until McCain had earned enough delegates required to win the nomination when the party calls a roll of states at its September convention in St. Paul.

Before today’s primaries, McCain led handily in polls in all four states and was expected to claim a large share of the 256 delegates awarded between them. Media surveys of the total delegate count have differed throughout the campaign, however, leaving it unclear whether a clear consensus about McCain’s standing would emerge after the day’s ballots had been counted.

Huckabee’s concession ended an increasingly quixotic challenge. Despite continued evidence of disenchantment toward McCain among some Republican activists, Huckabee was unable to present himself as a viable alternative to conservative voters. He was far behind in the delegate race, with a total of 257.

Huckabee, who dared McCain to debate before Tuesday's vote and was largely ignored by his rival, had done little to draw distinctions between their candidacies in recent days.

McCain campaign workers prepared a banner with the magic number of delegates — 1,191 — for his victory celebration in Dallas.

For McCain, who declared after winning Wisconsin’s primary two weeks ago that ‘‘I will be our party’s nominee for president,’’ formally securing the necessary delegates will have important benefits beyond the symbolic as he begins to structure a campaign for the general election.

As the presumptive nominee, McCain aides said this weekend, McCain he can begin coordinating his political efforts with the White House and the Republican National Committee, which serves as the party’ permanent apparatus in Washington.

The aides said that they expect Mike Duncan, a longtime party operative, to remain in place as the national party chairman.

At a press conference On Monday in Phoenix, McCain said that once when he cleared the delegate threshold he would begin his search for a running mate by examining the methods used by prior nominees. ‘‘We’re looking right now at the processes that have been used,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ll try to select a process and move forward with it.’’

McCain formally launched his campaign in April and his climb to the nomination marks a stunning comeback. He initially lagged in polls of prospective Republican candidates and was behind in fund-raising.

By last July, his campaign had virtually exhausted the $25 million it had raised, leading to the layoffs of dozens of campaign staffers and prompting several aides to leave. McCain accepted the resignations of two of his top campaign officials and named a third to manage the faltering campaign.

The campaign reported in July that it had spent more than it raised from April through June.
In January, McCain won the New Hampshire primary after losing the Iowa caucus to Huckabee. He then won in South Carolina and Florida, and picked up the endorsement of Rudy Giuliani, who dropped out the race in January.

Representative Ron Paul of Texas technically remains in the Republican race, but it is mathematically impossible for him to become the nominee.

McCain is making his second bid for the Republican presidential nomination. He lost to George W. Bush in 2000.