ohn McCain may have lost the war, but he doesn't want to lose this battle.
Campaign sources say the Arizona senator may decide to withhold an endorsement of George W. Bush if the Texas governor tries to replace McCain delegates with his own supporters at the Republican National Convention this summer.
Although it may seem like little more than a parliamentary issue, having loyal delegates at the Philadelphia convention is a matter of necessity and pride for McCain, who is still reeling from the string of primary losses that ended his campaign.
By having supporters fill the 239 delegate slots he won, McCain could use his convention soldiers for one last stand: To influence platform issues such as campaign finance reform, which would require holding one-fourth of the 110 delegates on the resolutions committee, or to suspend convention rules, for which he needs only a majority of delegates from five states.
The delegate issue is greatest for McCain in Massachusetts and Michigan, where Republican Party leaders are moving to have Bush backers fill the delegate seats, jeopardizing whatever insurrections the senator wants to stage on the convention floor.
Both states choose delegates to the convention from an open pool of Republicans, which would make it easy for Bush supporters to become McCain delegates.
''If George Bush is going to let the governors continue to put a further strain on an already difficult relationship, then they're making a major mistake,'' said McCain's Northeast campaign director, Michael Dennehy.
One campaign source stressed that the flap over delegates could push McCain toward withholding an endorsement or other public support for Bush, who could need his former rival's moderate base of support to win the White House.
Bush has racked up 1,093 delegates, enough to clinch the GOP nomination. McCain won primaries in Arizona, Michigan, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont, for a total of 239 delegates, all of whom would be required to vote for the senator during the convention's first ballot, even if they personally support Bush.
But that's not the point, the McCain campaign contends.
''If the Bush people want to continue trying to steal our state delegates, then certainly, we're going to fight for them,'' Dennehy said.
New Hampshire chose their delegates, loyal to McCain, right after the Feb. 1 primary. Delegate selection rules in Rhode Island and Connecticut are more favorable toward McCain, who can submit a slate he desires in those states. Also, the McCain campaign does not believe there will be trouble with delegate selection in his home state of Arizona.
However, in Vermont, delegates rely on the support of the party establishment to win the seats, making it easier for Bush loyalists to go to the convention.
And then there's Massachusetts, where McCain won all of the state's 37 delegates. McCain's campaign says only his backers should fill those seats at the convention.
But the state GOP party executive director, John Brockelman, says Governor Paul Cellucci, an ardent Bush supporter, deserves to be in one of the seven at-large delegate seats handed out by the Republican State Committee. The other 30 seats will be filled during local caucuses next month.
Although state party rules say the winner of the primary receives all of the 37 delegates, that's not necessarily the case here.
''When you have caucuses you seek to get your people elected,'' Brockelman has said, suggesting that Bush supporters could be selected throughout the state, not just for the handpicked at-large delegate seats.
Last night, Brockelman scoffed at the remarks from the McCain campaign.
''No one is stealing any delegates,'' he said. ''The delegate rules are very clear. Any Republican in the state can run for a delegate slot.''
Hopes for a quick reconciliation between the two camps seemed to fade further yesterday, as McCain supporters accused Bush of showing little respect for the senator and his reform agenda, and said the Texas governor's ''macho talk'' had killed hopes for a quick endorsement from McCain.
Their comments came in response to an interview in yesterday's New York Times, in which Bush said he did not intend to make concessions to McCain on campaign finance reform.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
