It appears that McCain has locked in his status as a front-runner. Romney dropped out of the race today at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, being that if he continued, he would "forestall the launch of a national campaign and be making it easier for Sen. Clinton or Obama to win," he said to the crowd. He was very well spoken as he continued on, stating that "if this were only about me, I'd go on. But it's never been only about me. I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, in this time of war I feel I have to now stand aside for our party and for our country."
It seems that he understands the division of the Republican party at its current state, with many unhappy claiming that McCain is not a true conservative, and is trying to get the GOP together to beat Obama or Clinton in November. While the crowd still cheered Romney on claiming that there were issues on which they still disagree with McCain, the Republican Party has set itself up with plenty of time to 'heal' and come together before then, all the while focusing on McCain's strengths to get his party to go the voting booths in November to vote for him. It will be interesting to see how long it takes and if the Republican Party unites behind McCain.
*All quotes from CNN.com with CNN's Robert Yoon contributing to the report.
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I think you're correct that Romney spoke well as he bowed out of the Republican Presidential race this week, virtually handing the nomination to John McCain. I think party unity is important for both sides heading into November, but, in terms of being genuinely unified around your nominee, it might be a bit overrated in terms of how it will affect the outcome of the general election. Republicans will, presumably, come together much quicker than Democrats because of the size of McCain's lead over Huckabee, compared with the close race between Clinton and Obama. But as many have said, there are still parts of the party that disagree with McCain's blend of independent-minded conservative politics, so they may sit on the sidelines for some time, a bit unhappy with their party's choice. But even with this outrage and hostility, it's hard to imagine those members of the party not supporting their candidate's nomination come November. Winning in November is what it's all about, and I think, even with a party not fully united, Republicans should be alright heading into the general election. The Republican party will "heal," as you said, and eventually unite to some extent, but even if they don't, beating a Democrat in November is reason enough to "hold your nose" and still cast a vote for your party. It's not uniting, necessarily, but it serves the same purpose. I bet even Mitt Romney will do the same.
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