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  From Republican Outsider to Darling: McCain Triumphs in South Carolina

From Republican Outsider to Darling McCain Triumphs in South Carolina

By Gregor Peter Schmitz in Charleston, South Carolina

Part 2: A Lead in Florida Polls

His payback: The right fought against him only half-heartedly. Nor were there any serious smear campaigns this time around. And McCain did everything he could during his victory speech in Charleston to ensure that the ceasefire isn’t broken. He noted that he began his political life as a “foot soldier in the Reagan revolution,” and he railed against the kind of “big government” that wastes taxpayer money. He spoke flanked by his children and even his 95-year-old mother. McCain isn’t a particularly pious person, but he ended his speech by saying: “God bless you as you have blessed me today.”

The Arizona senator now has the strongest position in the splintered field of Republican candidates. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has already won three primaries in Wyoming, Michigan and Nevada -- but those states are ultimately only political sideshows in the primary season. Romney’s campaign has a well-filled war chest and he will be able to stay in the race.

But the successful businessman has been saddled with the image of a turncoat lacking in principles -- and voters don’t seem to be buying his message. Though he spent millions on TV ads in South Carolina, Romney only managed to score fourth place, with 15 percent of the vote -- beaten even by former actor and ex-Senator Fred Thompson (16 percent), who as a Southerner from Tennessee had hoped to fare better in the state.

The only thing that has stood out about Thompson -- once seen as the natural heir to Reagan’s politics -- is his weariness. Much of the speech he gave on Saturday night was given in the past tense -- almost as if he couldn’t wait to drop out of the race. If he does drop out, he is expected to endorse McCain, his buddy in the Senate.

For his part, McCain’s most striking achievement on Saturday was in putting the brakes on Mike Huckabee’s ascent. The former preacher had hoped to tap South Carolina’s powerful evangelical Christian base to show that his triumph in Iowa wasn’t just a flash in the pan. A number of ads he ran in the state emphasized his Christian faith. On Saturday night he didn’t seem ready to give up yet, saying: “The process is far, far from over.” Newsweek’s Howard Fineman sees it differently: “If he can’t win South Carolina, it’s hard to see where else Huck is set up to do so.”

Huckabee hardly stands a chance in Florida, where former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani will launch his first serious campaign effort. Giuliani has largely ignored the earlier primaries and scored an embarrassing 2 percent of the votes in South Carolina. But the 9/11 hero is betting everything on a victory in populous Florida. McCain, though, has overtaken him in the polls there.

The New Yorker is hoping to stave off the Arizona senator with criticism of his previous skepticism about tax cuts. Still, experts like former Reagan PR guru David Gergen see little chance of success in that strategy. “It’s about personalities,” he says. “People are voting for McCain because they like him.”

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