NPR: Romney Says He's Honored to Endorse McCain

Romney Says He's Honored to Endorse McCain

NPR's Scott Horsley sends along the news that Mitt Romney will hold a press conference in Boston at 4 p.m. today and he will endorse Republican Senator John McCain's bid for the party's presidential nomination.

Political Intelligence, the politics blog at the Boston Globe, reports that Romney will ask his delegates to support McCain. "By the Associated Press tally, with Romney's 280, that would virtually clinch the Republican nomination for McCain, giving him 1,123 total, just shy of the 1,191 total."

The announcement shows that, even though McCain once compared Romney to a pig and Romney questioned McCain's conservative credentials, in politics almost all sins are forgiven ... at least when you want to get one up on the other party.

Update: MSNBC's First Read says that it might not be all that easy for Romney to "give" McCain his delegates. Romney can basically release his delegates and ask them to support McCain, but it's pretty fuzzy about his being able to bind them to McCain. For instance, in many states, thet actual delegates who will go to the convention haven't been chosen yet.

More: Romney told the press conference that he is honored to support McCain.

"Even when the contest was close and our disagreements were debated, the caliber of the man was apparent," the former Massachusetts governor said, standing alongside his former rival at his now-defunct campaign's headquarters. "As a party, we come together."

And as noted above, AP reports that Romney won't be able to hand over all his delegates to McCain.

Many are from caucus states that won't select the actual delegates until state conventions this spring. Those delegates will be selected by people who supported Romney in the initial caucuses; the direction they go depends on whether they follow Romney's lead in endorsing McCain.

In other states, the delegates are bound to Romney, and their fate is governed by state party rules. In states like Montana, where Romney has 25 delegates, they would be free to support whomever they choose after Romney releases them.

5:00 PM ET | 02-14-2008 | permalink

Comments

Despite this action, unless Romney is taking the VP ticket, we may see a conservative coup that will turn on McCain. McCain's work is far from over.

Cheers.

Sent by platonicform | 4:08 PM ET | 02-14-2008

I believe Mike Huckabee deserves the backing of Romney's delegates. He seems to be a much more sincere and credible candidate. We need a candidate with fresh ideas, and one with convictions, rather than someone who changes with the polls. In short, we need a leader, not a status-quo politician.

Sent by Brian Smith | 8:53 PM ET | 02-14-2008

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