Some Conservatives Make Last-Ditch Bid To Block McCain

Some conservatives are making a last-ditch attempt to block Senator McCain's path to the Republican presidential nomination, but there are indications that they may have trouble building a broad and well-funded anti-McCain coalition.

A popular talk radio host who has vocally opposed Mr. McCain in recent weeks, Rush Limbaugh, sounded resigned yesterday to the prospect that the Arizona senator will be the Republican nominee. "It looks like McCain's pretty far down the line now to having wrapped this up," Mr. Limbaugh said on his program.

"There's a lot of anxiety among a lot of conservatives about Senator McCain. It's simply indisputable, but there was no figure in our roster of candidates who rose up to challenge him or to galvanize conservative support. All the candidates on our side, for various reasons, are uninspiring or worse, and so, just as I predicted, the base has fractured."

Mr. Limbaugh argued that Mr. McCain's win in Florida Tuesday came from liberals, moderates, and independents — and not his conservative listeners. However, he also said he had laid out the case against Mr. McCain, but, "You still made up your minds yesterday."

Another talk show host and prominent McCain critic, Hugh Hewitt, held out hope that Mr. Romney could muster enough support to beat the Arizona senator. Mr. Hewitt ran out scenarios on his Web log showing that the former Massachusetts governor could remain viable in the delegate race even after Super Tuesday next week.

Mr. Hewitt said the key was getting Michael Huckabee's supporters to abandon ship. "If the Huckabee voters look at the reality and see they are voting for McCain when they vote for Huck, anything can happen," the talk host wrote.

A conservative group, Citizens United, said it would begin airing an ad on Fox News today in which Mr. McCain's visage suddenly emerges from behind a picture of Senator Clinton. "One candidate voted against the Bush tax cuts — both times. And pushed more restrictions on gun owners' rights.

The same candidate joined Ted Kennedy to sponsor amnesty for illegals. And was even mentioned as a running mate for John Kerry," the ad says. "Hillary Clinton? No, John McCain … surprisingly liberal."

"I'm hoping we can stop him from running the table," the head of Citizens United, David Bossie, said. He acknowledged that the ads aren't that different from some of Mr. Romney's spots, which failed to stop Mr. McCain. "Maybe people would be open to issues or to a message that isn't coming from another candidate," Mr. Bossie said.

A leader of an anti-tax group which already ran ads criticizing Mr. Huckabee, the Club for Growth, said a response to Mr. McCain's win likely would be debated at a club board meeting today. "He's not very popular among our members," the club's executive director, David Keating, said. The Arizona senator's votes against tax cuts and his crusade to tighten campaign finance laws raised the club's ire, he said, though Mr. McCain gets credit for efforts to restrain spending and cut pork barrel projects.

Mr. Keating said the compressed calendar made it hard to form a strategy to oppose Mr. McCain. "I'm not sure there's much that can be done. Just sit back and cross your fingers," the conservative activist said.

One Republican operative who has been involved in independent ad campaigns, Merrie Spaeth, said she doubted anti-McCain efforts would garner much support. "I think Republicans are in a very different frame of mind than in 2000 when it was truly open warfare," she said. "They are a chastened group these days who are in a mood to cooperate."

Many of Mr. Bush's backers from Texas and elsewhere, who were critical of Mr. McCain in the 2000 presidential primary, support the Arizona senator's attempt to legalize some illegal immigrants. There is also less incentive for an independent anti-McCain campaign since Mr. McCain's main opponent, Mr. Romney, has the ability to fund similar ads with his own wealth.