Battle moves to Michigan after Bush trumps McCain in South Carolina

By Mike Ferullo/CNN

February 19, 2000
Web posted at: 11:26 p.m. EST (0426 GMT)

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) -- Texas Gov. George W. Bush had little time to savor his decisive victory Saturday over Arizona Sen. John McCain in the South Carolina primary, as both candidates took their divergent campaigns on to Michigan for another GOP election showdown just three days away.

Bush's huge Palmetto State win solidified his front-runner status for the upcoming sprint toward the Republican nomination and vindicated his campaign's "firewall" strategy for the conservative, southern state.

Texas Gov. George W. Bush

The victory also put the brakes on the rolling momentum the McCain camp enjoyed after its victory in the New Hampshire primary. McCain will now look for a new bounce to keep his campaign alive while Bush concentrates on widening his delegate lead.

View the latest results.

"I got knocked down in the snows of New Hampshire, so I went to my leaders and said 'Put me in front of the people and let me show them my heart,'" an elated Bush said Saturday night.

"I am honored and humbled by the huge victory we had here in South Carolina," Bush said during his victory speech in Columbia. "It is the victory of a messenger who is a reformer with results." (312k wav file)

At a post-election rally in Charleston, McCain conceded defeat, but was less than gracious to his rival.

"I congratulated Governor Bush on his victory here and wished him a happy celebration and a good night's rest. He's going to need it," McCain told supporters.

McCain said Americans have a clear choice in the Republican Party -- a "choice between experience and pretense" and a "choice between a record of reform and an empty slogan of reform."

"I'm a real reformer," he said. "I just don't say it. I live it." (264k wav file)

Election officials reported record voter turnout that more than doubled 1996 totals and reached an estimated 600,000 -- or 20 percent of the voting age population -- on Saturday.

Conservatives, especially so-called religious conservatives, drove the Bush train to victory. Six in 10 voters called themselves Republicans in Saturday's primary, according to exit polls, and they favored Bush by more than 2-to-1, while McCain won about 60 percent of independents and 80 percent of the Democrats who crossed over to vote.

McCain, a former Navy pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war, was counting on a barrage of support from veterans, but exit polls revealed that he split the veterans' vote with Bush -- at 47 percent apiece. Conservative commentator Alan Keyes, who trailed badly in final results, received 6 percent of the GOP veterans' vote.

Bush also trumped McCain among Republican party members who identified themselves as party "reformers" by a margin of 61 percent to 54 percent. Among first time GOP voters, however, McCain enjoyed a 53 percent fo 46 percent edge.

Bush said he has no plans to alter his strategy in the coming contests. Ahead is a three-week string of primaries that will likely decide the winner in the GOP nomination battle. Without momentum, McCain is at a disadvantage against Bush's 50-state organization.

"I'll take nothing for granted I'm going to say the same things in Michigan that I've said in South Carolina," the Texas governor told CNN. Bush's win gives him 31 of South Carolina's 37 delegates. He now has 84 delegates of the 1,034 needed to be nominated for president.

"We come roaring out of South Carolina with a new energy in this campaign," Bush said. "I believe because of this vote today, I will be the next president of the United States."

Sen. John McCain

Despite what he labeled "falling a little short" in South Carolina, the McCain camp insists his crusade of reform is growing stronger. But CNN's John King reported Saturday that the Arizona senator camp is pulling its assets out of Virginia to concentrate on the Michigan contest.

McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, said Saturday: "If it were not for the massive negative campaign run against us, primarily in the religious conservative community, we would have carried the state."

"To coin a phrase, it's a bump in the road. We'll be up and running hard when we wake up in Michigan," Davis said.

Unlike its New Hampshire precursor, the South Carolina battle between Bush and McCain was rancorous and sometimes negative.

Following up on his 18-point Granite State victory, McCain opened the two-man Palmetto State contest with negative ads that compared Bush's integrity to President Clinton's. The Texas governor responded with similar ads that questioned McCain's conservative credentials and attacked his Senate record.

After polls showed McCain's approval rating slipping, he abruptly shifted strategy and pulled the ads off the air with a promise not to run negative spots in South Carolina again.

For his part, Bush continued his attacks on TV and on the stump, suggesting that the Arizona senator "says one thing and does another" on campaign finance and other reform issues.

Conservative special interests also campaigned on the Texas governor's behalf. Among others, anti-abortion advocacy groups ran a series of radio ads accusing McCain of waffling on the issue.

Although the McCain camp made an unabashed push for independents and Democrats, the Bush campaign mounted its own strong effort to galvanize support among so-called "Christian conservatives," who comprised nearly 40 percent of the GOP electorate during the 1996 contest.

Saturday's outcome could serve as a predictor for Tuesday's Republican contests in Arizona and Michigan. McCain is likely to score a win in his home state, but is locked in a neck-and-neck battle with Bush in Michigan.

Two months ago, Michigan Gov. John Engler boasted of being the firewall that would save Bush's candidacy no matter what happened in earlier states.

Bush heads into Michigan wondering if independents and Democrats will mount a more formidable challenge than their South Carolina counterparts.

CNN's Jonathan Harber, John King, Candy Crowley and The Associated Press contributed to this report.