PHOENIX, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- John McCain took on the mantle of Republican front-runner before cheering supporters in Arizona late on Super Tuesday.
The Arizona senator said he "relished" the role of the underdog, but "we have to get used to the idea we are the Republican Party front-runner for the nomination for president of the United States." McCain won a string of contests across the country.
"I don't want to make any exaggerated predictions ... but it's fair to say, we've come a little bit closer to the day... when mothers in Arizona could tell their children that someday they could grow up to be president of the United States," he said.
McCain also appeared to reach out to GOP rivals Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney in a first attempt to heal the party's primary wounds.
He saluted both men, and said of Romney, "Him and i have been going at it pretty hard over the last few weeks. He's a tough competitor." McCain called politics "a rough and tumble business."
"We've still got a ways to go," he added, "but we're much closer to the victory we've worked to achieve and i am confident we will get there."
