GOP also-rans are still hopeful
The clock had barely ticked past 7 p.m. when a rousing chorus of applause surfaced in a Chicago River North bar. John McCain had sealed the GOP victory -- handily.
"Are the polls even closed yet?" asked Jim Durkin, McCain's Illinois campaign chairman. "That was easy."
But across town, fans of another Republican front-runner -- Mitt Romney -- cautioned it isn't, in fact, so simple on a national level.
"It's never over until it's over," said former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who perched on a chair in a Lincoln Park bar to cheer on Romney. Sitting near Romney's trademark "Washington is Broken" banner, he proudly proclaimed Romney is "in this race."
Like other Romney fans, he shrugged off the Illinois loss amid broader hopes of his candidate securing victories in delegate-rich states like California, whose polls had just closed for the evening when the Chicago-area Republican shindigs began to break up for the night.
Even Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna -- who joined about 100 others at the McCain celebration -- urged a bit of caution, saying the GOP nomination isn't sewn-up yet. Staying neutral, he insisted either McCain or Romney would make a fine choice for the White House.
Meanwhile, another Republican name -- Mike Huckabee -- surfaced plenty in the analysis of Illinois' results, particularly among the pockets of Romney supporters, who expressed surprise at his success here, and nationally.
In the end, "whoever's nominated, I'll support," agreed Frank Rowder, who worked on Romney's campaign.
Still, he admitted Romney's loss in Illinois -- something he chalked up in part to Rudy Giuliani-supporting folks swinging their votes to McCain -- was "kind of disappointing." The turnout at Romney's party, he acknowledged, also was a little less than stellar.
Dozens cheered on McCain's handy Illinois victory on one side of the city, erupting in excited applause whenever the television newscasters announced he'd claimed another state. But only about 40 Romney backers gathered in a mostly empty Lincoln Park bar, some stifling yawns and glancing at their watches.
Many blamed the low turnout on the bad weather, or fear of it, insisting Romney indeed has plenty of supporters in the Land of Lincoln.
Even mega-Romney fan Christopher Urban, a Chicagoan who showed up wearing five Romney-supporting buttons, a Romney stocking cap and a matching Romney T-shirt, notes he almost didn't come because of the winter storm warning but, in the end, he said, he showed up for what he called a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to really support a full-spectrum conservative."
But state Rep. Mike Fortner, when asked if McCain was conservative enough to be the Republican nominee, insisted he is.
"He is for me," Fortner said from his perch at the McCain celebration, and "I'm a conservative voter in the Illinois House."
Shawn Hely, a McCain delegate who helped organize support for the Arizona senator amid young professionals, went a step further, calling McCain "his hero."