McCain wins Republican nomination

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) captures the Republican nomination by reaching the necessary delegate count, according to The Associated Press. (Video provided by MSNBC.com.)

By Michelle Westgate
Staff Writer

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) claimed victory Tuesday after reaching the necessary 1,191 delegates to guarantee the Republican Party nomination for president. In Texas, Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) formally stepped out of the race after losing all four states during tonight’s primaries.

Primary races in Vermont, Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas have earned McCain a total number of 208 delegates Tuesday. This, according to estimates by The Associated Press, will secure the 1191 delegates necessary to win the party nomination.

“The contest begins tonight,” McCain said in a victory speech given to a room full of cheering supporters. He vowed to fight for a capable, wise, brave, and decent government. “That is our responsibility and I will not let you down,” he said.

Huckabee acknowledged that McCain would receive the presidential nomination for the Republican Party. “I extended to him not only my congratulations, but my commitment to him,” he said.

Huckabee expressed the importance of bringing the party together, supporting the presidential candidate, and working to maintain the party principles.

“Until our country is all that we hope and pray it to be, we won’t be able to walk away completely,” Huckabee said.

McCain described a group of people who control the future and write history. “That is the essence of hope in America,” McCain said. “Hope built on courage, and faith in the values and principles that have made us great.”

President Bush will officially endorse McCain tomorrow afternoon at a press conference at the White House, according to a statement.

At the University tonight, students gathered in the Mack student center to watch the results of the primaries. Several students were not surprised by the McCain victory, but many did not believe they would support him in the upcoming presidential election.

“I’m not going to vote for a republican just because I am a Republican,” said Greg Evangelista, a senior political science major. “There are a lot of people who will do that,” he said.

Evangelista does not plan on supporting McCain in the upcoming November election.

Clinton wins Ohio, Rhode Island; Obama takes Vermont

Sen. Hillary Clinton "comes back" to win in Ohio and Rhode Island. (Video provided by MSNBC.com.)

By Mike Manzoni

Staff Writer

Looking toward a set of primaries outnumbered in pledged delegates and momentum, she aired an ad widely considered an attack on the national security credentials of her opponent, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)

And it may have worked.

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY.) won the Ohio primary, surprising Obama in a race some thought would make him the party's presumptive nominee.

"For everyone in Ohio and America who has been counted out but refused to be knocked out…this one is for you," Clinton said, addressing a crowd of supporters in Columbus, Ohio.

"It's [Ohio] a state that knows how to pick a president," she said, "as Ohio goes, so goes the nation."

She added that no president in recent history has won the nomination without winning the Ohio primary.

Clinton also picked up a victory in Rhode Island. Obama won Vermont, and Texas, with 69 percent of precincts reporting, still was too close to call, according to The Associated Press.

"We are turning this page and we are ready to write the next great story in American history," Obama said at rally in San Antonio, Tex.

Congratulating Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for winning the Republican nomination Tuesday night, Obama, in the same sentence, contested his policies and welcomed a debate: "He has fallen in line behind the very same policies that have ill-served America."

The divisive night of primaries and caucuses followed a week of campaigning in which Clinton aired an ad – now known as the "3 a.m. ad" – which questioned viewers who they would want answering the White House phone at 3 a.m., should a problem arise immediately warranting presidential action.

The Clinton camp also questioned a memo obtained by The Associated Press that outlined a meeting between Obama's economic adviser, Austan Goolsbee, and a representative of the Canadian government at the Canadian consulate in Chicago.

The memo detailed a meeting in which Goolsbee told the Canadian representative to take Obama's comments against free trade as "more of a political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans."

Last week, Obama denied that the meeting ever took place, but early this week admitted he knew of the meeting, but insisted Goolsbee did not represent his views.