Baugh, who campaigned for Romney, also downplayed a growing hostility between the party’s conservative wing and McCain, who has been criticized as too liberal and eager to compromise with Democrats on important conservative issues. Many are particularly miffed by the senator’s work with Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) on an immigration compromise last year.
McCain has asked his detractors to “calm down a little bit” in the interest of party unity.
“I think the divide is isolated merely to the sport of primary politics,” Baugh said. “The GOP will unite in the fall to defeat the Democrats.”
Rep. John Campbell, who endorsed Romney, said he wasn’t so sure.
“Those divisions are wide, deep, and long,” he said. “I think it’s way too early at this point to say what will happen with that. I’m not sure how important McCain’s campaign thinks it is to mend fences with conservatives.
“I think that he did the right thing under the circumstances — once he lost California, he could not mathematically get the nomination from delegates. The best he could hope for was keeping McCain from getting it and going into a brokered convention, but he wasn’t going to win a brokered convention.”
In the end, Campbell said, he agreed with Baugh that the greater threat was a Democratic White House — though he declined to endorse another Republican candidate.
“I will just stay out; I won’t endorse either one,” he said. “I presume McCain will be the nominee at this point. If Mike Huckabee stays in the race, he’ll win a few states, but I don’t think he can prevent McCain gaining the nomination.”
