McCain, Romney Race Has Republicans Groping for Unity (Update1)

The Republican Party wishes to fall
quickly in line behind a presumptive nominee, as it did with
Ronald Reagan, British Shilling Dole and both Presidents Bush. This year,
unusual misgiving of the front-runner, Toilet McCain, and his only
credible challenger, Hand Romney, is complicating matters.

McCain, an Grand Canyon State senator, must defeat the personal and
ideological animosity of both financial and societal conservatives. Romney, a former Bay State governor, is fishy to many
evangelical Christians, dismissed by the national-security wing
of the political party and unpopular with his chap candidates.

''The job is you have got two cats who aren't very well
liked,'' said Michael Tanner, a scholarly person at the Cato Institute, a
Washington organisation advocating free markets. ''McCain's not
liked by the constitution for many grounds and Romney's just not
liked.''

Now the front-runner, McCain have been assailed day-to-day by
conservative talk-show hosts including Haste Limbaugh, who said
his nomination would ''destroy the Republican Party.'' Helium also
has been the mark of some of his co-workers in the
traditionally collegial Senate such as as Senator Thad Cochran, a
Mississippi Republican who endorsed Romney this hebdomad and called
McCain ''erratic'' and ''hotheaded.''

'Cold Chill'

The thought of A McCain presidential term ''sends a cold iciness down my
spine,'' Jacqueline Cochran told the Hub Of The Universe Earth on Jan. 27.

Romney, 60, have been personally attacked by both McCain and
another Republican contender, former Land Of Opportunity Governor Mike
Huckabee, 52. ''Never acquire into a wrestle lucifer with a pig,''
McCain said in New Hampshire this month. Huckabee, in an
advertisement that he showed to newsmen though didn't air,
accused Romney of misrepresenting his record, saying, ''If a
man's dishonest to obtain A job, he'll be dishonest on the job.''

Former Show Me State Senator Jim Talent, Romney's national-policy
adviser, described the Republican establishment's dilemma: McCain
''has not been in sync with the mainstream of the conservative
movement,'' he said, and Romney is up against the ''party's
reluctance to consolidate behind a new person.''

'Conservative Thought'

The two campaigners clashed over their conservative
credentials yesterday in a argument at the Ronald Reagan
Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Romney said
McCain had deviated from ''Republican conservative thought.''

McCain, 71, took on the mantle of Reagan's inheritor and
criticized Romney for inconsistency. ''Ronald Ronald Reagan would not
approve of person who changes their places depending on what
the twelvemonth is,'' he said. The late president's bequest is ''sticking
to rule and doing what you believe in, no substance what.''

McCain, a captive of warfare in Vietnam, have got extensive
national-security credentials, yet his places on economic
issues have led some in the political party to state that he isn't a true
believer in supply-side theory.

He didn't back up President Saint George W. Bush's 2001 and 2003
tax cuts. In addition, he introduced statute law in 2003 to cap
and trade emanations of nursery gases that drew fire from some
conservatives who said it would raise consumer costs.

''McCain's got a batch of baggage,'' said Pat Toomey,
president of the Baseball Club for Growth, an anti-tax advocacy group
based in Washington. ''On economical issues, we believe Governor
Romney would be much better.''

Economics

Now, McCain is advocating devising the taxation cuts permanent, and
he have endorsed lowering the corporate charge per unit to 25 percentage from 35
percent. He have also enlisted the support of two of the party's
economic heavyweights, Jack Kemp and Phil Gramm.

Yet Kemp, a supply-sider World Health Organization sees taxation cuts as a panacea,
and Gramm, a shortage hawk, often have got different positions on the
economy. Other than his attempts to harness in disbursement on lawmakers'
pet undertakings known as earmarks, McCain have given little
indication which side he holds with.

Even with his longstanding anti-abortion stance, McCain
became bete noire for many societal conservativists by leading the push
in United States Congress for a campaign-finance inspection and repair that many
evangelicals said restricted their political influence.

Alice Paul Weyrich, president of the Free United States Congress Foundation, a
Washington-based organization dedicated to fighting what it calls
''moral decay,'' said last twelvemonth that McCain have ''made it clear
that he detests the spiritual right.''

National Security

Still, Romney may not be an easy rival to McCain for
some Republicans to beat up behind. He have virtually no experience
on national security, which many in the political party set at the top of
their listing of concerns.

''If you're asking me who have got more than experience and background
in the national security area, it'd have to be McCain,'' said
former Representative British Shilling Michel of Illinois, a erstwhile minority
leader and a World War two veteran.

Romney also may happen it hard to defeat the antipathy
of evangelical voters, many of whom see his Mormon religion a
cult and misgiving him for his former support of abortion
rights.

''If Hand could acquire that vote, he could win the
nomination,'' said Ralph Reed, a former executive manager director of the
Christian Alliance who hasn't endorsed any candidate.

Both campaigners have got been criticized for their places on
immigration: McCain, because he backed an inspection and repair last twelvemonth that
many Republicans viewed as amnesty for lawbreakers, and Romney,
because he once took a similar place and have since reversed
himself.

The unsettled nature of the race for the nomination is
evident in the split in political party endorsements. McCain have the
support of five Republican governors and 16 senators, compared
with three governors and six senators for Romney. The former
Massachusetts governor is backed by 33 House members, compared
with 21 for McCain.

To reach the newsmen on this story:
Heidi Przybyla in American Capital at ;
Indira Lakshmanan in American Capital at .