Engler says Bush-McCain ticket could be possibility

LANSING (AP) - If Gov. John Engler were a betting man, he'd keep his chips on George W. Bush despite John McCain's win here Tuesday in the GOP presidential primary.

"Look, they held an election, we showed up in record numbers, so did some other folks, my guy lost, we move on," Engler said yesterday. "I believe George Bush will be the Republican nominee."

McCain, a U.S. senator from Arizona, beat the Texas governor 51 percent to 43 percent in a primary where Republicans made up only 49 percent of the 1.35 million people who cast votes.

Engler wasn't happy with - or expecting - the outcome. But he isn't upset enough to rule out McCain as a possible vice presidential pick.

"I had said a long time ago that I thought McCain was a very likely person to be on the ticket," Engler said, adding that was strictly his own opinion. Bush has not publicly discussed who he might put on the ticket if he wins the nomination.

Engler said the record high turnout in Tuesday's primary is a good sign for the GOP this fall, since so many Republicans voted.

"George Bush set a modern-day record in terms of Republican support. He received more votes on Tuesday in Michigan than were cast for all candidates in the (primary) election four years earlier," Engler said.

That happened in part because Engler mobilized Republicans across the state to staff phone banks, mail letters and get GOP voters to the polls.

Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer said yesterday that some of those efforts crossed a legal line.

The Michigan Democratic Party filed complaints yesterday with the Secretary of State's office and the Federal Election Commission accusing Republicans of two violations of campaign laws.

Engler admitted in one case, a mistake was made. Bush supporters mailed a letter to Republicans asking them to volunteer at Bush for President phone banks. On a sheet listing phone bank contacts, several state phone numbers - rather than home numbers - for contacts were included. State workers are not allowed to do campaign work on state time.