President Bush this morning closed his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference here in Washington with what may have seemed like an implicit endorsement of Sen. John McCain's conservative credentials.

"We've had good debates and soon we'll have a nominee who will carry a conservative banner into this election and beyond," Bush said, going on to tell the audience not to sit the race out.

"Listen, the stakes in November are high. This is an important election. Prosperity and peace are in the balance. So with confidence in our vision and faith in our values, let us go forward, fight for victory, and keep the White House in 2008," he said.

He never mentioned McCain by name — or Mike Huckabee or Ron Paul, who also are still running but have little hope of catching the Arizona senator. But to some CPAC attendees, his words sounded like a call to get behind McCain.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel later said that reading "would be wrong."

"We're approaching the time when we will have a Republican nominee," Stanzel told reporters traveling on Air Force One.

— Stephen Dinan, national political reporter, The Washington Times