McCain Can Clinch Nomination Tuesday

CNN reports that John McCain could clinch the GOP presidential nomination tomorrow:

Sen. John McCain could clinch the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday, but Mike Huckabee refuses to call it quits.

McCain is 144 delegates shy of sealing the nomination, and 256 Republican delegates are up for grabs Tuesday.

The biggest prizes are Ohio and Texas, where polls show McCain with a comfortable lead. Rhode Island and Vermont also hold contests Tuesday.

Huckabee told reporters the future of his campaign is a fair question if he doesn't take Texas, but he says he believes he has a chance. In Texas, there are 137 delegates at stake.

It would be theoretically possible, but not likely for Huckabee to play spoiler Tuesday, according to CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider.

"If Huckabee were to win the four states by huge margins, he might be able to prevent McCain from going over the top," Schneider said. "But he'd have to win by pretty solid margins."
Vermont is the only winner-take-all state up for grabs Tuesday, and it has only 17 Republican delegates at stake.

Still, Huckabee says he's staying in the race to help the Republican Party stay true to its core values.

"I do think that many people need to be looking at the future of our party. If we're not reaching out to younger voters, if we're not capturing the issues that people care about ... then we're going to be an extinct party in another few years," Huckabee said on CNN's "American Morning."

Huckabee trails McCain by nearly 800 delegates.

I'm still not 100 percent sure what Huckabee wants.

A McCain-Huckabee ticket is not discussed much, although the way Huck's stormed some of the Southern states, it can't be completely ruled out (and I think Huck would way more credible than Mitt Romney for vice-president). (Note too that Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty is considered out of the running for McCain's second spot.)

In any case, there's not too much doubt McCain will wrap it up tomorrow. That's good. The party can finally start rallying all its constituencies together, moving on toward the general election.

Rush Limbaugh (and not to mention Laura Ingraham) will finally have to put up or shut up. He's worn out his calls for GOP crossover voting for Hillary.