McCain and Romney Claim Wins as Race Turns to Florida

COLUMBIA, S.C. — John McCain scored a momentum-building win in South Carolina's primary and Mitt Romney captured the Nevada caucuses in Saturday balloting that sent the muddled race for the Republican presidential nomination careening toward Florida.

In South Carolina, Arizona Sen. McCain edged Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister who carried the important South Carolina evangelical vote but not by a sufficient margin to carry the first-in-the-South primary.

In Nevada, former Massachusetts Gov. Romney coasted to victory in a race not contested by his major foes.

By day's end, the focus was on Florida's Jan. 29 GOP primary that marks ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's active entry into the scrambled fray.

Romney headed to Florida before the Nevada results were counted. In Jacksonville, he called his Nevada victory, coupled with his Tuesday win in Michigan, "huge for us."

"I'd love to win Florida, of course. It's a very big state with a lot of delegates and I care very much about Florida," Romney said.

In Charleston, a jubilant McCain thanked supporters "for bringing us across the finish line first in the first-in-the-South primary."

"It took us awhile, but what's eight years among friends," he said, referring to the 2000 loss to George W. Bush here that effectively snuffed out McCain's White House bid that year.

He noted that the South Carolina primary winner has always won the GOP nomination.

"We have a ways to go, of course. There are some tough contests ahead, starting tomorrow in the state of Florida," he said. "But, my friends, we are well on our way tonight and I feel good about our chances."

Giuliani campaigned Saturday in the Everglades and The Villages.

"Come on down," Giuliani said to his rivals. "We're waiting for you with a campaign we've been working on for I think almost a year."

Later, on CNN, Giuliani said the undecided race means his strategy "has kind of worked out, because this is a wide-open field. They all have to come down here."

"We're going to win Florida and I believe that will push us right to the top in terms of getting the nomination," he said.

Huckabee congratulated McCain and told supporters in Columbia, "We wanted to come here and declare a South Carolina victory."

"We got awful close. Unfortunately, in politics close doesn't count for the first slot, but it does count. ... Politics, and particularly this year more than perhaps any other, is not an event. It is a process, and the process is far, far from over," he said.

But Emory University political scientist Merle Black said it might be close to over for Huckabee.

"Even though he carried evangelicals his weakness outside that group really limits his appeal as a potential Republican candidate," Black said. "And I think he will have a very hard time in Florida."

Black called it a "big victory for McCain" that will give him momentum going into Florida.

"And if he can win Florida he would be in a very strong position on Feb. 5," Black said, referring to the Super Tuesday contests around the nation.

As expected in South Carolina, evangelical Christians — who propelled Huckabee to victory in Iowa — were a strong factor. Exit polls showed they made up 59 percent of the South Carolina vote, and they backed Huckabee by a 40-27 margin.

But in numbers that show Huckabee's problems in broadening his base, he took only 12 percent of the non-evangelical vote, running fourth behind McCain (40 percent), Romney (21 percent) and Fred Thompson (15 percent).

Voters who said they attended church weekly (62 percent) gave Huckabee only a 38-27 edge over McCain.

McCain's win came eight years after his loss to George W. Bush effectively ended his 2000 White House bid. With 83 percent of the precincts reporting, McCain had a 33 percent to 30 percent lead on Huckabee. Thompson was third at 16 percent, a point better than Romney.

For former Tennessee Sen. Thompson, who was counting on a strong showing in a southern state, Saturday's weak finish could mean the end of his campaign.

"I've got to do very well here. I'm not in this to get my face on television or my name in the paper or enhance my resume. I'm not a hanger-oner just for its own sake," he said at a Saturday campaign event.

As results came in, he addressed supporters in Columbia but made no comment on his candidacy's future. He spoke in front of signs bearing his slogan, the "clear conservative choice." But exit polls showed he was clearly not the conservatives' choice in South Carolina, where he ran third among the 68 percent of voters who called themselves conservatives.

Thompson got 18 percent of their votes, only a point better than Romney and well behind Huckabee's 33 percent and McCain's 26 percent.

In Nevada, Romney picked up 51 percent of the vote, easily outdistancing the field. Texas Rep. Ron Paul ran second with 14 percent, McCain third at 13 percent and Huckabee and Thompson each with 8 percent.

After losing to McCain in New Hampshire, Romney, who gave up on South Carolina last week, shifted to a message heavy on the economy and "Washington is broken."

"The need for change is even more apparent today as our economy faces challenges both here at home and abroad," he said Saturday. "With a career spent turning around businesses, creating jobs and imposing fiscal discipline, I am ready to get my hands on Washington and turn it inside out."

Indeed, entrance polls showed that Nevada Republicans named the economy and illegal immigration as their top concerns. A plurality of caucus participants with those concerns sided with Romney - who now has won Michigan, Wyoming and Nevada.

About half his Nevada support came from members of Romney's Mormon faith, who are a large populace in the state. Entrance polls showed that a fourth of caucus-goers were Mormons, and more than 90 percent of them backed Romney.

Saturday's balloting marked the end of the first phase of the GOP race - a phase in which candidates picked their battles and no contest involved all the major contenders.

None of the six included any significant effort by Giuliani, a one-time national front-runner running on a late-state strategy that begins in Florida, the next contest, and is keyed on the Super Tuesday contests around the nation on Feb. 5.

Saturday's Republican results in South Carolina and Nevada added to the scrambled scorecard GOP voters around the nation have amassed to date.

In Iowa, Huckabee and Romney, the only major candidates who made major efforts, finished first and second. In Wyoming, Romney finished first after being the only candidate who campaigned there.

In New Hampshire, top three finishers McCain, Romney and Huckabee made significant efforts. Michigan native Romney won that state, followed by McCain and Huckabee. They also were the only three candidates who ran hard in Michigan.

In Saturday's contests, McCain, Huckabee and Thompson ran hardest in South Carolina, with Romney the only one trekking to Nevada in the closing days.

Florida will be Giuliani's first test, and he has a lot riding on it. He and his team remain confident he will get the nomination despite being off the radar in the four contests prior to Saturday.

Three recent Florida polls showed a bunched-up race. All three showed McCain leading, but with Giuliani (as well as Huckabee and Romney) still in contention.

Former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, a McCain backer, said Giuliani is counting on a dicey strategy.

"Maybe it is possible after being a non-factor in all these states to suddenly become a front-running candidate," he said. "But it certainly will make history if it happens."

McCain declined to publicly pass judgment on the Giuliani last-man-in strategy.

"I think that every candidate chooses their strategy," he said, "and as a former loser I'm not very good at making those recommendations."

A Jan. 9-13 national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, completed prior to the Michigan primary, tracked Giuliani's falling star. Nationwide, he was in fourth place with 13 percent, down 13 points from November and 16 points behind front-running McCain.

"Giuliani's support among Republicans, as well as his personal image, has declined sharply in recent months," the poll reported, noting that 36 percent of GOP voters now say they have an unfavorable opinion of Giuliani, up from 15 percent last August and 5 percent in April 2006.

His once large advantage in perceived electability also has plummeted. In November, 45 percent of respondents tagged Giuliani as the Republican with the best chance of winning in November, McCain was a distant second at 16 percent. But this month, only 17 percent said Giuliani was the most electable Republican, a distant second to McCain (42 percent) and only two points better than Romney and four better than Huckabee.