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Nomination battles take telling turns in rival camps

Republican John McCain took a major step toward healing divisions in the party and winning the support of wary conservatives, securing the endorsement of Mitt Romney, his former chief rival and bitter critic in a tense presidential nomination battle.

  • AP
  • Published: 00:32 February 16, 2008
  • Gulf News

Washington: Republican John McCain took a major step toward healing divisions in the party and winning the support of wary conservatives, securing the endorsement of Mitt Romney, his former chief rival and bitter critic in a tense presidential nomination battle.

In a tight Democratic race, Barack Obama continued to pick up steam. The first-term senator secured the backing of one of Hillary Rodham Clinton's influential black congressional backers while another prominent civil rights leader and congressman openly discussed a possible switch.

Minor victory

Obama also was poised to win one of the most coveted endorsements in organised labour yesterday, that of the Service Employees International Union. Clinton notched a minor, but much-needed victory of her own, winning on Thursday the popular vote in New Mexico's caucuses.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, endorsed McCain at his former campaign headquarters in Boston, and asked his national convention delegates to swing behind the veteran Arizona senator and former prisoner-of-war in some of his kindest words to date about his former rival.

"Even when the contest was close and our disagreements were debated, the calibre of the man was apparent," Romney said, as McCain stood next to him.

While McCain struggled with conservatives, Clinton faced difficulties of a different sort.

With added momentum from his string of eight victories since Saturday, Obama has a good opportunity to extend his streak with weekend primaries in Wisconsin and Hawaii, his native state.

Two endorsements

He secured two endorsements on Thursday and was expected to win another on Friday. Former Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee, now an independent, endorsed Obama as the best presidential candidate to restore America's credibility. Similarly, the United Food and Commercial Workers, a politically active union with significant membership in the upcoming Democratic battlegrounds of Texas and Ohio on March 4, threw its support behind him.

Clinton endured another blow as one of her supporters in Congress switched sides. Representative David Scott's defection and remarks by Representative John Lewis, a prominent lawmaker and civil rights leader, weakened her further. "You've got to represent the wishes of your constituency," Scott.

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