From Times Online February 21, 2008
Will Pavia, and Tim Reid in Austin, Texas

John McCain has accused The New York Times of engaging in “gutter politics" after the paper reported claims that the Republican candidate had become entangled in a compromising relationship with a political lobbyist.

The presumptive Republican nominee hit back at the paper, accusing it of "lowering its standards to engage in a hit and run smear campaign".

The report claimed that Mr McCain had been romantically linked to the lobbyist Vicki Iseman and had been accused of granting her clients political favours eight years ago during his first run for the White House.

Ms Iseman’s clients frequently had business before the Senate Commerce Committee, which Mr McCain then led. The paper reported that her clients donated tens of thousands of dollars to his campaigns.

In late 1999 and early 2000, she was said to have regularly arrived at his offices and attended campaign events. After attending a small fund-raising dinner with him in Florida the two were reported to have flown back to Washington together on a client’s corporate jet.

“Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself,” the paper said, saying it had spoken to “several people” involved in Mr McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign.

McCain takes three states along Potomac
With conservatives still wary, Huckabee runs well in Virginia

11:59 PM CST on Tuesday, February 12, 2008
From Wire Reports

WASHINGTON – Republican front-runner John McCain enjoyed a clean sweep of the Potomac primaries Tuesday, winning all three contests.

Just over half of Virginia voters said in exit polls that Mr. McCain isn't conservative enough as he lost big to Mike Huckabee among evangelical and born-again Christians and frequent listeners to conservative talk shows.

But Mr. McCain still won Virginia 50 percent to Mr. Huckabee's 41 percent, largely by doing well in Washington, D.C.'s, suburbs and winning more than 2-to-1 among the majority of the state's GOP voters who are not evangelicals.

Mr. McCain also easily won in Washington, D.C., and in Maryland.

At his victory party in Alexandria, Va., Mr. McCain congratulated Mr. Huckabee, his "spirited campaign" and his "passionate supporters."

"He certainly keeps things interesting, a little too interesting at times tonight, I must confess," Mr. McCain said to laughs. "But I have even more reason to appreciate just how formidable a campaigner he is."

"The next several weeks are going to be the very intense weeks, when a lot of the delegates are at stake," Mr. Huckabee said of upcoming primaries in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

"So we march on," he said, adding once again that he would not quit until someone wins the 1,191 delegates needed to clinch the nomination.

Newsday

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Arizona Senator John McCain fulfilled his miracle reverse from an "underdog" to the Republican presidential forerunner as he prevailed in the Super Tuesday states, beginning to end the party's nominee race.

As of all winners being projected of the 21 states holding Republican primaries and caucuses, McCain led in nine states and won about 40 percent of the populous votes, compared to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's seven states, 31 percent, and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee's five states, 21 percent.

The number of delegates McCain has gained increased from 97 to almost 600 after the Super Tuesday triumph, more than the combination of Romney's 250 and Huckabee's 160, leaving the two rivals hardly to catch up.

The 70-year-old Senator launched his second bid for the White House with limited campaign fund and staff, but later restored his momentum with victories in New Hampshire and South Carolina, two key states to Republican candidates.

Compared to Romney and Huckabee, both conservative Republicans, McCain was more moderate on issues including abortion and illegal immigration, which was appealing to many independent and moderate Republican voters.

DROPPING OUT: Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani was expected to formally exit the race yesterday. Democrat John Edwards told advisors he would follow suit

AP, MIAMI AND DENVER
Thursday, Jan 31, 2008, Page 7

Senator John McCain and his wife Cindy greet supporters in Miami following his victory in the Florida Republican presidential primary on Tuesday.
PHOTO: AFP

Senator John McCain won a breakthrough triumph in the Florida primary, seizing the upper hand in the Republican presidential race ahead of next week's coast-to-coast contests and lining up a quick endorsement from soon-to-be dropout Rudy Giuliani.

McCain eased past chief rival Mitt Romney on Tuesday night following a tough battle in which the two traded accusations and insults. McCain has now emerged as the clear front-runner going into the Feb. 5 national contests that could decide the party's White House nominee.

"We have a ways to go, but we're getting close" to the nomination, McCain said in an appearance before cheering supporters.

Former New York mayor Giuliani ran third. It was Giuliani's best showing of the campaign, but not nearly good enough for the one-time front-runner who decided to make his last stand in a state that is home to tens of thousands of transplanted New Yorkers.

Republican officials said that Giuliani was expected to endorse McCain later yesterday in California. They spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the public announcement.

Romney, who has spent millions of dollars of his personal fortune to run for the White House, vowed to stay in the race.

The Republican candidates were all headed to California for a debate last night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton won the Democratic primary, an event that drew no campaigning by any of the contenders -- and awarded no delegates to the winner because of a dispute between the state and national parties over the date of the primary.

Even so, Clinton sought to emphasize her performance in the state, holding a victory rally as the polls were closing. Nearly complete returns showed Clinton with 50 percent, followed by Senator Barack Obama with 33 percent and former senator John Edwards with 14 percent.

Edwards was to announce his exit from the presidential race yesterday.

He notified a close circle of senior advisers that he planned to make the announcement at a 1pm event in New Orleans that had been billed as a speech on poverty, two of his advisers said.

The Florida victory was worth 57 Republican National Convention delegates for McCain, a winner-take-all haul that catapulted him ahead of Romney for the overall delegate lead. More than 1,000 Republican delegates will be awarded on Feb. 5 in 21 primaries and caucuses.

A total of 1,191 delegates are needed to secure the nomination at this summer's Republican national convention.

"It shows one thing. I'm the conservative leader who can unite the party," McCain said in a brief interview.

The veteran Arizona senator and former Vietnam prisoner-of-war has long been considered too much of a maverick by many of the Republican Party's core conservative base.

In remarks to supporters in Orlando, Giuliani referred to his candidacy repeatedly in the past tense -- as though it were over. He had staked his White House bid on the Florida primary, ceding earlier contests to the other candidates.

"I'm proud that we chose to stay positive and to run a campaign of ideas in an era of personal attacks, negative ads and cynical spin," he said. "You don't always win, but you can always try to do it right, and you did."

Returns from 99 percent of the state's precincts showed McCain with 36 percent of the vote and Romney with 31 percent. Giuliani trailed with 15 percent. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee finished fourth with 13 percent.

The Australian - Correspondents in Washington | January 15, 2008

US senator John McCain, once widely written off in the race for the White House, has emerged as the clear favourite for the Republican presidential nominee as support for Rudy Giuliani plummets, two major nationwide polls showed yesterday.

US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama greets the congregation at the Temple Pentacostal church in Las Vegas. Picture: Reuters
A survey conducted jointly by CBS News and The New York Times indicated that following his primary election win last week in New Hampshire, Senator McCain now leads the national Republican race over former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, by 33 per cent to 18 per cent.

Senator McCain is seen as the most electable and leads among conservatives as well as moderates with 41 per cent of the vote, up from 7 per cent in December, according to the poll.

Support for Mr Giuliani, the former Republican national frontrunner, is at just 10 per cent, down from 22 per cent at the last poll. His perceived electability has fallen to 12per cent, from 43 per cent last month.