” I want to congratulate Governor Huckabee and his supporters on their success today. Not for the first time, he has surprised the rest of us….I salute you…And I want to congratulate Governor Romney as well on his wins today. He and I have been going at it pretty hard over the last few weeks, and he is a tough competitor….This election, like any election, is a rough and tumble business…But I have respect for people who are willing to accept the extraordinary demands, all the ups and downs, of such a tough and long contest. And Governor Romney has mine”

So said John McCain as he spoke to his supporters in Phoenix, Arizona. He arrived there earlier in the day .

He won New York, Arizona, Oklahoma, Delaware, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, California and Missouri AND won delegates in numerous other states won by Romney and Huckabee.

Huckabee swept the southern states with little organization or money. He won his home state as well as Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama, with the help of evangelical voters, after gaining a victory in the West Virginia state convention early in the day.

He made it clear he was forging ahead:

“A lot of people have been trying to say that this is a two-man race,” Huckabee said in Little Rock Tuesday night. “Well, you know what — it is, and we’re in it.”

Romney’s wins included Massachusetts, along with North Dakota and Utah, where he got strong support from his fellow Mormons. He also won the Montana caucuses, Colorado and Minnesota. He too said the race was still on.

“We’re going to go all the way to the convention. We’re going to win this thing.”

The precise delegate count won’t be completed for a few days.

McCAIN PLAYS TO DEFEAT MITT ONCE AND FOR ALL IN MASSACHUSETTS

With a commanding lead in most super Tuesday states GOP front-runner John MCCain is looking for a put away punch in Mitt Romney’s home state of Massachusetts.

McCain hopes to win a big majority of the 1,023 nomination delegates that are up for grabs in the 21 states that have contests 2/5 (there are 15 primaries, 5 caucuses and 1 state convention,
Ten of the races are winner take all) But Romney has signaled that may not push him out of the race.

The McCain campaign believes beating Romney “in the state where people know him best” would be a decisive blow that would force Romney to reconsider and ultimately withdraw.  However all the latest polls show Romney with a decisive lead in the bay state.

As FOX was first to report Wednesday, McCain plans to watch the Super Bowl and campaign in Boston!! Sunday night and Monday morning.

McCain has TV ads on the air in Massachusetts via a current national cable buy. Aides say they are going up with local radio spots tonight. In addition Former Massachusetts Governor(s) Jane Swift and Paul Cellucci both have full schedules of surrogate campaign events on behalf of McCain – they are not saying nice things about Mitt.

Finally the campaign has launched an aggressive robo telephone call blitz and expects helpful editorials from the Boston Globe and Boston Herald newspapers which have both endorsed McCain.

Romney has said repeatedly to FOX NEWS and others in recent days that he plans to continue after Super Tuesday and will assess his best path forward after the results are tabulated.