McCain faces the scene of his defeat
South Carolina crushed the Republican presidential candidate's hopes in 2000. This time, he has a new battle plan -- and a 'truth squad.'
CHARLESTON, S.C. — John McCain, riding high from his victory in the New Hampshire primary, got a hero's welcome Wednesday as he arrived at sunset at South Carolina's elite military college, where he was lavishly introduced by pillars of the GOP establishment.
In an auditorium at the Citadel, silver-haired veterans waving small American flags greeted the former Navy fighter pilot. Fresh-faced cadets in crisp gray uniforms stood at attention onstage as the compliments poured forth from the state's House speaker and attorney general and from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
"This man has seen it all face to face. He knows the world and the world knows him," said Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster.
Could there be a more unlikely setting than South Carolina for McCain's victory lap?
In his maverick 2000 presidential bid, South Carolina was McCain's Waterloo, where he was crushed by the state establishment's favorite, George W. Bush.
The senator from Arizona now returns to that blood-soaked political battlefield hoping to prove his appeal to the conservative party regulars he needs to keep his resurgent campaign on track for the long haul.
But South Carolina remains littered with political land mines for McCain. There are more evangelical conservatives here than in New Hampshire, and they view him with suspicion. And no one has forgotten the 2000 battle, which featured scathing personal attacks from both sides.
"There's some lingering resentment that sticks in your mouth," said David Woodard, a pollster at Clemson University who supported Bush.
McCain kicked off the new phase of his campaign Wednesday in economically troubled Michigan, a state he won in 2000.
GOP primary rules in Michigan allow independents to vote. That could make it possible for him to outpoll former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- whose father was a popular GOP governor there -- by assembling the same coalition of independents and Republicans that brought him victory in New Hampshire.
But in South Carolina, an all-Republican primary will test McCain's ability to compete with more-conservative candidates like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has been leading in recent polls; Fred Thompson, the former Tennessee senator who is banking heavily on a strong showing in the state; and Romney, who came in second in New Hampshire.
