McCain refuses to pander

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John McCain's campaign manager yesterday said the candidate will not pander for conservative support, even as his surrogates have made a second overture to see why chief competitor Mike Huckabee has not dropped out of the Republican presidential race.

Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, a McCain supporter, called former Arkansas Sen. Tim Hutchinson on Friday to inquire why Mr. Huckabee was still running. That was in addition to last week's call to Mr. Huckabee from Texas Gov. Rick Perry, another McCain supporter, asking him to drop out of the race.

"Frank and I are old friends, good friends. He called and said: What's Governor Huckabee thinking, what's he want to do, why's he still in the race?" Mr. Hutchinson said. He said Mr. Keating did not ask for Mr. Huckabee to drop out of the race — something the Huckabee campaign says the Texas governor did.

"Frank did not do that. Frank was asking more along the lines of: John wants to know, what's the governor thinking, what's his goal in this, does he have a different agenda," Mr. Hutchinson said. "They would like to have Governor Huckabee out but they are being very careful not to unnecessarily antagonize."

In both cases, Mr. Huckabee's answer why he's still in was simple, according to Mr. Hutchinson and other campaign sources familiar with the calls: "To win."

A spokeswoman for Mr. Perry said he wouldn't discuss the call.

Mr. Keating's office at the American Council of Life Insurers, where he now works, said he was traveling and couldn't return a phone call.

Mr. Huckabee told reporters he is in the race until someone reaches the 1,191 delegates needed to secure the nomination, and says voters deserve to have a choice on the ballot.

Mr. McCain has a nearly insurmountable lead in the race for the Republican nomination, but Mr. Huckabee's repeated strong performances among conservative voters — on Tuesday he won a majority of self-identified conservatives in Virginia's primary, though Mr. McCain won a plurality in Maryland —is a theme the press has focused on. And it is a theme Mr. McCain would like to end.

But Rick Davis, Mr. McCain's campaign manager, told reporters at a luncheon hosted by the Christian Science Monitor yesterday that Mr. McCain is happy to have Mr. Huckabee in the race.