An underdog no longer

PHOENIX — After an exhausting months-long sprint, John McCain hoped for a decisive night on Super Tuesday where he could claim he had the Republican nomination sewn up.

But it wasn’t to be. The Arizona senator instead claimed an incremental victory -- and said he was ready to claim the title of Republican front-runner.

“I don’t really mind it one bit,” he told the crowd of more than 500 in the ballroom of the Arizona Biltmore Resort.

Even on this primary day, the 71-year-old candidate seemed intent on showing he could out-campaign anyone, coast to coast. He began the day in the bluest of states, beneath Manhattan’s towering skyscrapers, where he rallied New York voters with former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

Then it was a mad dash across 3,000 miles to the other coast, where he met California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the blinding sunshine of San Diego.

McCain’s supporters waited for him Tuesday night at the swank Arizona Biltmore, where white-jacketed car jockeys hustled down the stone walkways beneath twinkling white lights to meet McCain’s guests.

The Biltmore ballroom was still virtually empty when McCain notched his early and unsurprising wins in New York, Connecticut and Delaware.

As some three dozen satellite trucks and 100-plus reporters descended on the resort, McCain hunkered down at home, waiting for returns.

Later, after arriving at the Biltmore, McCain told the crowd:

“There is still a long road ahead. I am as confident tonight as I have ever been that we can succeed in November by uniting our party in our determination to keep our country safe, proud, prosperous and free.”

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