GOP presidential candidate John McCain said Tuesday that, contrary to a prediction by potential rival Newt Gingrich, he has no plans to quit the race after accepting federal matching funds. “How he would have any clue about that is beyond me,” McCain told bloggers in a conference call. “I don’t think he has any idea, unless he has some kind of recording device in conversations that I have with my advisors.”
On Monday, Gingrich said McCain “is on the verge, I think, of dropping out of the race, right after he collects his FEC [Federal Election Commission] money.”
For weeks, political analysts have speculated that McCain would remain in the race until the end of the year, when he would qualify for FEC money to pay off the debts of his struggling campaign.
Financially healthier candidates plan to forgo the matching funds, which limit a campaign’s budget, opting instead for unlimited private financing. “I think we’re considering all options, but we have not made a decision yet,” McCain said. “If I do decide to take matching funds, which I did in 2000, it would be no indication of whether I’m going to stay in the race or not.”
Gingrich, who is considering a presidential run, also ridiculed McCain and other Republicans for subjecting themselves to presidential debates that the former House Speaker called superficial.
“I’d concede that the debate formats are indeed challenging,” said Kevin Madden, spokesman for GOP candidate Mitt Romney. “But they aren’t a total summation of voter interaction.”
He added: “What you don’t see in a televised debate are the countless hours spent every day at town halls, meeting voter after voter and talking about real issues that affect people’s lives.”
Conservative columnist Robert Novak also responded to Gingrich, who remarked that Novak “was once a good reporter; he’s now just a personality.”
Novak criticized Gingrich in his new book, “The Prince of Darkness.” “Well, that’s the first time anybody’s praised my personality in my whole life,” Novak joked during a speech in Raleigh, North Carolina. “So I want to thank Newt for that.”
