Besides being a classy move, Romney’s endorsement of McCain today will include a “release” of his delegates (around 286), and an urging of his delegates to move to McCain.

CNN puts McCain at 827 delegates, and he needs 1,191.

If all of them swing to McCain, it would put him at 1,113.

This may be a bit of a backhanded slap at Huckabee (because, man, if the guy ahead of you quits the race, what’s your justification to hang around?), as McCain may be within a few delegates of officially clinching the nomination before Texas, the biggest state remaining for the former Arkansas Governor, goes to the polls.

Let’s see… 19 delegates at stake in Washington state’s primary, 40 in Wisconsin, 32 at stake in American Samoa, Guam and Puerto Rico… McCain won’t get all of them, but he should be on pace to get the lion’s share…

Depending on how quickly and how many of Romney’s delegates switch, McCain will probably need less than 100 delegates heading into March 4.

UPDATE: However, some of the caucus states where Romney has won or finished well, the delegates have yet to be named. (It’s one of those things where the county delegates are settled on caucus day, but they go to the county convention, who go to the state convention, where the delegates to the national convention.)

By one count from a campaign source, only 28 delegates are named and could change today.

Adds the source: “Maybe Huckabee will stay on his tropical vacation.”