Mitt Romney’s resounding win in Michigan throws the Republican race wide open heading into Saturday’s South Carolina primary — the first test in the South — and the marathon of primaries and caucuses Feb. 5.
The same holds true on the Democratic side, where the top three candidates — Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards — squared off in Nevada for a debate Tuesday night to hash out differences over energy and the economy in the runup to that state’s Saturday caucuses.
With three Republican candidates now carrying major wins under their belts, most of the GOP field shifted gears to South Carolina before the final votes in Michigan’s primary were cast, sparing little time for recovery as they tried to gain momentum going into Super Tuesday Feb. 5, when 24 states hold primaries and caucuses for Democrats, and 21 are voting in Republican races.
With the robust GOP field refusing to thin, four candidates are effectively scrambling for an edge in the Palmetto State. And each is measuring his confidence differently.
Leery to hype expectations too precipitously following his Michigan victory, Romney told FOX News on Wednesday that he can stomach a loss in South Carolina, even to his chief Michigan rival John McCain. Nonetheless, he has re-launched a series of television ads there after pulling them to focus on Michigan.
In a race with no front-runner, Romney cast the state matches as a series of incremental popularity boosts.
“I think Senator McCain is expected to win South Carolina pretty handily so that will give him a nice little boost,” Romney said. “Then I am hoping to do well in Nevada, maybe win there. That will give me another boost. Then off to Florida and who knows what the heck will happen in Florida.”
An American Research Group poll of Nevada GOP voters taken from Jan. 9-14 shows Romney leading the pack there with 28 percent. McCain was second with 21 percent.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was less modest in his predictions. The winner of the Iowa caucuses, who came in third in Michigan and is second only to Romney in the convention delegate count, said he’s proud of his Michigan performance but he’s a shoo-in for South Carolina.
“Here is what is going to happen. We are going to get to South Carolina … We are going to win Saturday, and it’s going to be a big night for us,” he said. The Southern Baptist pastor stopped short of calling it a must-win, but repeated he will take the state because of his closely held social conservative tenets.
“The people here are looking for somebody who I think recognizes that I represent what they stand for, which is a pro-life, pro-family, pro-Second Amendment, lower taxes, actual running of government,” he said.
McCain predicted he too would prevail in South Carolina, the state that derailed his candidacy eight years ago.
Out of Michigan before the polls closed, McCain told South Carolina supporters: “For a minute there in New Hampshire, I thought this campaign might be getting easier. But you know what? We’ve gotten pretty good at doing things the hard way, too. I think we’ve shown them we don’t mind a fight.”
Polls still show McCain, whose once crumbling campaign rebounded to grab New Hampshire Jan. 8, leading in the state.
South Carolina poll averages from RealClearPolitics.com show McCain with 25.8 percent, Huckabee with 23.3 percent, Romney with 15.3 percent and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson with 10.5 percent.
Thompson, who has yet to win a contest, has said he’s drawing a “line in the sand” in South Carolina.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Texas Rep. Ron Paul are trailing in the single digits in the state.
Giuliani, though, has avoided the state and has staked his campaign on his showing in Florida, which votes Jan. 29, hoping a win there will keep him fresh in voters’ minds come Feb. 5.
Among the Democrats, Clinton, Obama and Edwards all squared off for a debate in Las Vegas Tuesday, and all scheduled Nevada events for Wednesday.
Clinton and Obama sought to defuse tension over race at the debate, following comments by Clinton highlighting President Lyndon Johnson’s role in the civil rights struggle that some say minimized grassroots efforts by Martin Luther King Jr.
On Tuesday Obama and Clinton pledged to put the matter behind them.
Clinton won New Hampshire and Obama won Iowa, so each is trying to jockey for position in the upcoming states, while Edwards is still looking for his first win. Clinton also won Michigan, but she was the only major candidate on the ballot. Candidates did not campaign there because the state was stripped of its delegates to the national convention for holding an early primary.
Democratic candidates are stressing economic plans in Nevada and appealing to its large Hispanic population and its union contingent.
Clinton’s got a new ad out in Nevada in which she says she’ll be a voice for the millions of people suffering a troubled economy.
Obama began running two new ads in Nevada Wednesday focusing on his campaign vision of change – through expanding health care, ending the Iraq war and curbing the influence of lobbyists. He also announced the launch of two Spanish-language ads in the state the day before.
The Illinois senator, who has already been endorsed by the powerful Culinary Workers Union in Nevada, was endorsed Wednesday by the Las Vegas Review Journal.
Unlike South Carolina — where polls show Obama leading Clinton and Edwards far behind despite his efforts to revive his campaign in the state — recent Nevada polls show the race more competitive there. The American Research Group poll from Jan. 9-14 showed Clinton with 35 percent, Obama with 32 percent and Edwards with 25 percent.
The South Carolina Democratic primary is Jan. 26.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
No comments:
Post a Comment