For Arizona Senator John McCain, it’s now all over but his official coronation as the Republican Party’s 2008 Presidential nominee in light of his four-state primary wins — on a night when it seems certain that the Democrats will battle each other for months in a bitter nomination battle that could impact Democratic Party unity.

Who would have thunk it?

There may have been a male Comeback Kid. It seems increasingly possible that tomorrow there could be a female Comeback Kid. But as McCain gets ready to get a head start on his presidential campaign, he has become the REAL political comeback story of 2007-2008. Love him or hate him, he’s the guy who truly rose from the ashes to the top of his party’s political heap.

And who would have thunk this:

For months the narrative was of a bitterly-split Republican Party, with conservatives sitting on their hands and not supporting McCain, speculation about a possible third party, and talk of the Republican coalition falling apart. But as the epic political battle between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama plays out, it’s the Democrats who now seem on positioned on the edge of a bitter era of intense hard-feelings so that, no matter who wins, a certain number of their followers could stay home on election night — or even vote for McCain.

Some insist the winning-the-nomination-math reportedly isn’t there for Hillary Clinton, no matter how well she does tonight. But at this writing, there’s a genuine prospect that she will win three out of four states tonight. So the Democratic race will most assuredly go on — while McCain mends party fences and attacks the Democrats. NBC reports:

Sen. John McCain of Arizona rolled up victories Tuesday in primaries in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont, capturing enough delegates to secure the GOP nomination, according to projections by NBC News and the Associated Press. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, his main remaining rival, said he was dropping out of the race.

McCain won 17 delegates by taking the Vermont primary and was expected to pick up at least nine more in Rhode Island and at least 58 of the 85 delegates at stake in Ohio, according to NBC News projections. He also was projected to win at least 89 delegates in Texas.

The victories gave McCain, 71, a total of 1,205 delegates, 14 more than the 1,191 required to secure the Republican nomination, according to a count by NBC News that includes delegates who have told the AP they will vote for him.

And the GOP is wasting no time to consolidate McCain’s status as their party’s nominee: he will reportedly meet with President George Bush tomorrow, and get Bush’s announcement at the White House. And official Republican machine will make it…official:

A senior McCain adviser, Charlie Black, said the campaign expects the Republican National Committee to affirm Wednesday that McCain has passed the magic number.

Aides readied a giant banner bearing the magic number — 1,191 — to serve as a backdrop for a victory celebration in Dallas. Republican sources told NBC News that President Bush had invited the four-term Arizona senator to the White House on Wednesday and would endorse him.

Meanwhile, Huckabee told supporters in Irving, Texas, that he was ending his campaign.

McCain will pose a real danger for the Democrats’ big push to regain the White House. Even if he’s outspent, he still seems to appeal to many Democrats and independents — including, some polls in past months have shown, people who disagree with him on his hawkish support for the Iraq War. He also has proven to be a master at two important skills that candidates need in 21st Century America: having a good relationship with the press (except for one paper) and coming across well on television. So, in McCain, the Democratic nominee will have to battle him on not just issues, but image.

How wrong has the conventional wisdom been?

Only months ago McCain was counted out or someone who could never unify his party if he got the nomination. Conservative talk show hosts were ranting against him. And the Democrats were supposedly the ones who would know their nominee by Super Tuesday…so that they would have a head start in campaigning around their nominee and unifying their party while watching the Republicans eat each other up.

McCain must be smiling tonight.

Two times.

UPDATE: The New York Times:

Although Mr. McCain had been far ahead in the delegate count and been bestowed with the unofficial title of “likely Republican nominee” since his string of victories on Feb. 5, Tuesday’s results put him within reach of the 1,191 delegates he needs for the nomination. Mr. McCain also won the Vermont and Rhode Island primaries.

“I am very grateful and pleased to note that tonight, my friends, we have won enough delegates to claim with confidence, humility and a great sense of responsibility that I will be the Republican nominee for president of the United States,” Mr. McCain said. He said this was “an accomplishment that once seemed to more than a few doubters unlikely.”

In a sign that his party is now officially rallying around him, Mr. McCain will travel to the White House on Wednesday morning for a formal endorsement by President Bush, a Republican official said Tuesday night.

The Washington Post:

Early exit polling showed what’s on voters’ minds. The economy took center stage among Ohio Republicans. In Texas, by contrast, the economy is challenged as the top issue by the war in Iraq and terrorism, with immigration not far behind.

Texas Republican voters are among the least likely of any GOP electorate to say all illegal immigrants should be deported.

A candidate who “shares my values” is the most frequently cited candidate quality voters in both states say they seek. More than four in 10 in both states said McCain’s positions on the issues are not conservative enough for them, about the same as in the other post-Super Tuesday states where voters were asked the question.

As McCain has acknowledged in recent days, he has struggled to generate enthusiasm among the Republican Party’s evangelicals and social conservatives, who form a crucial part of the GOP base and are widely suspicious of McCain’s divergence from GOP orthodoxy on some issues. Those voters made up the key core of support for Huckabee, a Arkansas governor and Baptist minister.

Exit polls from Ohio and Texas indicate McCain made important inroads in those constituencies, however, beating Huckabee even among strong conservatives, although his margins were much thinner among those voters. He swamped Huckabee among voters who viewed Iraq, terrorism or the economy as the most important issues, and was highly valued by his supporters for his experience.

McCain was already looking ahead to the general election race during campaign appearances today, spending much of his time criticizing the Democratic presidential candidates.