Schwarzenegger to endorse John McCain

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will endorse John McCain on Thursday, giving a certain boost to the Republican presidential front-runner six days before California's high-prize primary.

	Schwarzenegger is to endorse John McCain

Agencies reproted that the two will appear at a news conference after touring a Los Angeles-based solar energy company and the governor will make his endorsement official, his senior aides confirmed Wednesday.

California, which has more than 15 million registered voters, will choose 173 Republican delegates on Super Tuesday.

It follows a tumultuous day in which Rudy Giuliani endorsed his friend John McCain as he formally withdrew from the Republican presidential race, describing the Arizona senator as an "American hero" and the best man to lead the country at a time of "great peril".

In a speech at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, the former New York mayor said if he had not decided to run, he would have supported Mr McCain.

He pledged to be "fully aboard 100 per cent. I don't do things half way, and when I believe in a man like I do John McCain, this will become to me as important as my own election campaign."

"Today I am officially announcing my withdrawal as candidate for the President of the United States," Giuliani told a packed press conference shortly before a debate between the remaining four candidates for the Republican nomination.

"And so deciding who to endorse in my particular case is not difficult because if I endorsed anyone else, you would say I was flip-flopping after already having endorsed John"

He said Mr McCain shared many of his visions and embodied the qualities required to be "commander in chief".

He was "someone who can trusted at a time of crisis, someone with a clear vision about the challenges facing our nation. Someone with the will and perseverance to get great goals accomplished.

"Mr McCain is an American hero, and America could use a hero in the White House."

The Arizona senator, standing next to him on the podium, said he was "deeply honoured" to have Mr Giuliani as "my strong right arm, my partner and my friend."

	John McCain and his wife Cindy celebrate his victory in the Florida primary where he emerged as the clear front-runner

Asked if the pair could now form the Republican ticket, Mr McCain said it was far too early to consider that question.

The endorsement strengthens the already strong position of the maverick Arizona senator, who emerged as the front-runner after winning the party's Florida primary.

He now faces only Mitt Romney, the millionaire former Massachusetts governor who came second, as a viable competitor.