South Carolina

While Mark Sanford works to salvage his marriage, Republicans are facing the prospect of a different kind of breakup: religious voters walking out on the GOP. A series of sex-related scandals over the last few years has undercut the party's assertions of moral authority and, worse, may serve to reinforce the doubts that many evangelical voters have traditionally harbored about the unholiness of the political realm.

Would a governor in a state with the third-highest unemployment rate in the nation really say no to President Obama's stimulus money? That is the question reverberating through South Carolina, where Republican Mark Sanford -- a popular second-term governor and noted fiscal conservative -- says he may reject some of the $2.8 billion in federal funds headed to his state. Some observers suspect that the governor, who is regularly mentioned as a presidential contender in 2012, is just grandstanding.

Presidential hopeful John Edwards, speaking in a sunny brick courtyard Wednesday at the college he once attended, basked in the sweet air and the attention from nearly a thousand people at a noon rally at Clemson University. "Man, I can tell I'm back in the South," he said before he was interrupted by cheers. "And it feels good." Just how long that feeling will last is uncertain. South Carolina's Democratic primary will be held Jan. 26.

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.

Appealing to voters anxious about an unraveling economy, Mitt Romney scored a decisive victory in the Michigan primary Tuesday, setting up a free-for-all among the leading Republican presidential candidates in this weekend's pivotal party contest in South Carolina. Romney's clinching of a long-sought electoral "gold medal" after disappointing silver trophies in the Iowa and the New Hampshire contests revived a richly funded campaign that appeared to be teetering on collapse.

John McCain's Republican presidential run collapsed in South Carolina eight years ago after what his campaign later acknowledged was a critical mistake: hesitating before responding to false accusations that the candidate's wife was a drug addict and that he fathered an illegitimate child.

.-- The Christian heart of the Republican Party beats fiercely on the broad boulevard where one finds both the gated entrance to Bob Jones University and the headquarters of His Radio network, home to an AM Christian station and a sister music station, "FM With Love From Jesus." But the two bastions of Southern evangelism mirrored the split in the ranks of conservative voters before the state's Republican primary Saturday.

Republican Mitt Romney said Thursday he could govern in the country's best interest because "I don't have lobbyists running my campaign." But Washington insiders are on his senior staff and registered lobbyists are top advisors. One advisor, Ron Kaufman, chairman of Washington-based Dutko Worldwide, regularly sits across the aisle from Romney on his campaign plane, participates in debate strategy sessions and last week accompanied Romney to a lunch in Myrtle Beach, S.C., with Sen.

Tiffany Pearson carries the grisly photo in a little pink bag with her other essential stuff, like her favorite Rod Stewart CD. The photo shows a calf carcass rotting on the roof of a trailer home. Pearson, 42, a clerk in a gift shop, said Latino immigrants put the calf up there. She said she planned to vote for a Republican candidate who would do something about illegal immigration. Among other things, she said, the newcomers are bringing down the quality of life in her country town.