WASHINGTON - GOP front-runner John McCain will try to win the support of his party's right wing during a conservative conference starting Thursday.
The three-day Conservative Political Action Committee conference will bring together McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Ron Paul to try to convince the crowd that they are the candidate for conservative voters. The conference boasts to be the country's largest annual gathering of activists, students and policymakers."Our message will be that we all share common principles, common conservative principles, and we should coalesce around those issues," the Arizona senator said Wednesday, according to CNN.
So far in the presidential race, McCain has relied heavily on the support of moderates and liberal Republicans, as well as independent voters to win states. His icy relationship with conservatives stems from several issues, including lashing out at Christian right leaders in 2000, backing the bipartisan immigration reform policy, opposing the Bush tax cuts, and co-sponsoring legislation on campaign finance reform.
The conference will give McCain an opportunity to warm up the conservative crowd to his candidacy. Following Super Tuesday, several conservative leaders have vowed to either not vote or vote for a Democratic candidate if McCain becomes the party's nominee.
"McCain has so radicalized key conservatives that some have vowed to turn themselves into suicide voters next November by pulling the lever for Hillary Clinton," said conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, according to CNN.
Only 49 percent of Tuesday's voters who said they voted for McCain described themselves as conservative, while about 80 percent of Romney voters and 75 percent of Huckabee voters described themselves as such, initial exit polls showed.
But McCain, who's largely seen as a moderate working with both Democrats and Republicans, calls for reconciliation.
"I do hope that at some point we would just calm down a little bit and see if there's areas that we can agree on for the good of the party and the good of the country," he said.
