Republican field narrows, McCain backs Romney

Jan 4, 2012, 23:49 GMT

Des Moines, Iowa - As the first contest of the US presidential campaign began to narrow the Republican field, top-runner Mitt Romney picked up the endorsement Wednesday of his former rival, Senator John McCain, in the scramble for the 2012 nomination.

McCain appeared with a beaming Romney in New Hampshire, where the next primary battle in the selection process will take place Tuesday. Romney, 64, flew immediately to New Hampshire after securing a narrow win in the western state of Iowa.

'I'm here to make sure that we make Mitt Romney the next president of the United States of America, and New Hampshire is the state that will catapult him on to victory,' McClain declared.

Romney, 64, a moderate who lost his 2008 bid to McCain, secured a narrow victory in Iowa, where he ended in a dead heat Tuesday with 25 per cent of the vote, just eight votes ahead of former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, 53, a staunch conservative who focussed on family and anti-abortion issues.

In third place was libertarian Texas Congressman Ron Paul, 76, at 21.5 per cent.

The Iowa vote has gained importance over the decades as the launch of the presidential campaign season, but its results usually change in the course of the gruelling 50-state primary campaign ahead.

Tuesday's caucus vote did reduce the field from seven to six, as Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann ended her campaign after a poor showing of only 5 per cent. Her departure freed up support by her right-wing Tea Party supporters for other candidates like Santorum.

'Last night the people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice, and so I have decided to stand aside,' she said at a press conference in Iowa, stressing the importance of uniting the party behind the eventual nominee.

Bachmann vowed to continue to fight President Barack Obama and what she called his 'socialist policies,' particularly his health care reform law, which she and other candidates hope to repeal.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, who ended in fifth place with 10 per cent, raised the spectre of quitting, but after retreating to Texas to reassess his campaign, he tweeted he would stay a while longer.

'And the next leg of the marathon is the Palmetto State ... Here we come South Carolina!!!' he wrote. South Carolina, which is seen as friendly territory for Perry's more conservative views, holds its primary on January 21, followed by Florida on January 31.

Scandals over sexual harassment allegations and an apparent affair had earlier forced out another candidate, businessman Herman Cain. A poor showing in a summer Iowa popularity contest claimed the candidacy of Tim Pawlenty, a former Minnesota governor.

For the remaining candidates, there was little time to rest following the Iowa caucuses - which ended with the closest race in the history of the contest. Another in the long series of Republican candidate debates is to take place on Saturday evening.