"Unfortunately, this is what Sen. McCain's inside Washington ways look like: he cut a backroom deal with the tax-and-spend candidate he thought could best stop Gov. Romney's campaign of conservative change," Myers said.

She noted that Romney made a personal appeal to the West Virginia GOP this morning and led on the first ballot. "Sadly, Sen. McCain cut a Washington backroom deal in a way that once again underscores his legacy of working against Republicans who are interested in championing conservative policies and rebuilding the party," Myers said.

Romney had no events scheduled Wednesday, but planned to be in Washington, D.C., on Thursday for the Conservative Political Action Conference, a major gathering of conservatives.

Both President Bush and Vice President Cheney are scheduled to speak at the conference, as well as McCain and another GOP presidential candidate, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a one-time Libertarian candidate for president who has won no states.

Before tonight, Romney had scored wins in Wyoming, Michigan and Nevada but lost in higher-profile races in Iowa to Huckabee, and in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida to McCain.

Madden said tonight that Romney has no plans to drop out of the race.

"We were competative across the board," he said. "We still have a lot of states out there, it's going to bbe a long night, sowe'll have to wait and see. We are doing well with conservatives everywhere, so that's an important sign for our campaign."

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