BROOMFIELD — For months, presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain has said he could unify his party behind his candidacy.
If the Colorado Republican Convention on Saturday was any indication, he appears to be succeeding.
An estimated 4,500 GOP activists and party regulars threw their support behind McCain despite the fact that GOP voters overwhelmingly backed Mitt Romney at Colorado’s February caucuses.
Yet it was Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who dropped out of the presidential race in February, who was the star of the state convention. A standing ovation, wild yells and flashing camera lights erupted as he walked on stage.
“Senator McCain wasn’t my first choice for president,” said Romney, with a smile. “I was.”
But when the cheering finally ended, the former venture capitalist, who has been fundraising and campaigning around the country for the Arizona senator, quickly got down to business. He criticized Democratic candidate Barack Obama on health care, taxes, education and Iraq. And he told conventioneers that McCain is “tested and proven” and the only candidate who can keep Americans safe from radical Islamic jihadists.
“I want John McCain as president because the best ally peace has ever known is a strong America,” he said.
A woman in the front row held a sign proclaiming “Mitt Romney for VEEP,” but Romney said later that he hasn’t had any discussion with McCain about becoming his running mate.
Although Romney and McCain fought bitterly during the nomination battle — Romney referred to McCain as a liberal and McCain called Romney a flip-flopper — the two say they have put aside their differences for the good of the party.
Romney, in an interview with The Denver Post, said that after he dropped out of the race, he and McCain shared a flight from Utah to Colorado where they traded some jokes about the campaign and then decided to put their heads together to “get the job done.”
While he acknowledged that some social conservatives aren’t 100 percent behind McCain, who is considered a maverick and at times, too moderate for some Republicans, Romney said the enthusiasm for McCain would grow.
“Republicans are on the same page, even if they aren’t on the same line,” he said. “Barack Obama is in a different universe.”
Romney reiterated the increasingly popular notion that Colorado and much of the Rocky Mountain West will be a battleground for the presidential contenders.
Saturday’s GOP convention was a stark contrast to the Democrats’ assembly two weeks ago, where supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Obama loudly dueled for recognition.
The GOP convention did see a few outbursts and campaigning by backers of presidential candidate Ron Paul, and they became angry when the state party refused to let a surrogate speak on his behalf.
Although economic issues have been at the forefront of the presidential campaign, they largely took a back seat at the convention to issues of national security and fiscal matters — considered McCain’s strengths.
Jeff Crank, a congressional candidate in the 5th District, echoed the sentiment of many in the room.
McCain “wasn’t my first choice, but he is now,” Crank said. “He’s signed a pledge on (budget) earmarks, stood up against pork-barrel spending and showed fiscal restraint.”
Romney, who had criticized McCain, a former naval aviator, as being weak on economic issues, generally addressed the issue on Saturday by saying McCain’s leadership and management experience would help lead the country out of economic turmoil.
Karen Crummy: 303-954-1594 or kcrummy@denverpost.com
