Word: thompson
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South Carolina did indeed play its traditional winnowing role, most notably by knocking Fred Thompson out of serious contention. The South Carolina result, however, will not be as determinative as it has been in the past. That's because the party itself is such a muddle, having come to South Carolina with three separate winners in the first three big contests. And the primary will soon be followed by an explosion of contests across the map. "The accelerated, front-loaded primary calendar was supposed to create order and instead has given us chaos," says Ralph Reed, the former head...
...Huckabee were the only real contenders in the state. McCain took 33% of the vote to Huckabee's 30%, winning by a margin of roughly 13,000 votes. What appears to have put McCain over the top was an assist from his friend and distant third - place finisher Fred Thompson, who may have siphoned off some of Huckabee's evangelical support in conservative counties. Otherwise, exit polling showed McCain and Huckabee in a dead heat for the heart of the GOP, with roughly the same amount of support from those with a positive view of the Bush administration, those without...
...precarious frontrunner standing on several fronts. He must argue that despite his decades in Washington, he is an agent of change. He must convince voters increasingly worried about the economy that Romney's private sector success is not as important as his record of government experience. (And Fred Thompson may not hang in long enough to be spoiler among conservative Florida Republicans.) Even more dramatically, McCain must make the case to moderates and independents that he, not Giuliani, best represents their interests. "My guess is that we'll split the moderates with Giuliani," concedes McCain adviser Charlie Black...
...Thompson is similarly running to the right on immigration, even though he has in the past expressed support for McCain's comprehensive immigration solution. The campaign passed around fliers outside the state capitol knocking McCain, Romney and Huckabee for their plans to secure the borders. The flier shows McCain and Romney in photographs with the liberal Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. It shows Huckabee standing with his fellow Arkansas governor Bill Clinton...
...Thursday morning, the polls showed a slight advantage for McCain, but pollsters were not putting much stock in the numbers. For weeks, opinions in South Carolina have been bouncing around, first with a bump for McCain after New Hampshire, then with a bump for Thompson after last week's debate, and more recently some slippage for McCain after his loss in Michigan. "It's muddy," said David Woodard, who polls the state at Clemson University...