Big News Day on the Campaign Trail
Noteworthy items among the stories for Jan. 30...
McCain forges ahead >> With the 57 winner-take-all delegates he earned with yesterday's victory in Florida's Republican primary, John McCain has taken control of the GOP race. CNN's Delegate Scorecard counts 97 committed to McCain, with challengers Mitt Romney at 74 and Mike Huckabee at 29. (Magic number: 1,191 needed for nomination.)
Tom Bevan of Real Clear Politics (RCP) predicts that McCain will add the 201 winner-take-all delegates up for grabs among Northeastern states in the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday primaries. "Add the 57 delegates he won last night, the 54 more he will get from winning Arizona on Tuesday, and the delegates he already had from New Hampshire and South Carolina, and McCain is already more than a third of the way to the magic number, not counting California and Illinois, where he already leads in the polls," Bevan wrote.
In addition, Rudy Giuliani is expected to announce today the end of his bid for the Republican nomination. Many political observers expect Giuliani to endorse McCain. (More on Giuliani below.)
Edwards exits >> With today's announcement that he is "suspending" his campaign for the Democratic nomination, John Edwards leaves what will be a two-person race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. (Obama and Clinton face off in a one-on-one debate tomorrow in Los Angeles.)
Edwards has withheld an endorsement for Obama or Clinton. In his concession speech delivered in New Orleans today, Edwards said, "I've spoken to both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. They have both pledged to me...that they will make ending poverty central to their campaign for the presidency.
"And more importantly, they have pledged to me that as president of the United States they will make ending poverty and economic inequality central to their presidency. This is the cause of my life and I now have their commitment to engage in this cause."
Rudy raises questions >> John Ellis, a contributing columnist for RCP, wondered aloud today after Giuliani's bow-out performance in Florida: "Where did all of Giuliani's money go? He raised, as I understand it, roughly $45 million. He competed in one primary. He did not spend $45 million in Florida.
"Follow-up questions include: How much were his consultants paid? The ones who dreamed up the ‘don't-compete-and-win' strategy? How much (in percentage terms) went to private aviation? That's really the key question. When his contributors find out the answer to that question, how angry will they be? That's the other question."