This time around, no ‘game face’ for a buoyant McCain

On the last day of campaigning in the Palmetto State eight years ago, “we pretty well knew we weren’t going to win,” John McCain admitted Friday. Hecklers infiltrated his rope lines spewing vicious attacks, the crowds were dwindling and the candidate’s huge lead over George W. Bush after McCain’s New Hampshire win had evaporated.

“I had my game face on,” the Arizona senator told reporters on his campaign bus. “But I can sense a crowd.”

What a difference eight years makes. This election eve, as many as 1,000 people met the former Navy fighter pilot and prisoner of war at sunset on the Yorktown aircraft carrier in Charleston Harbor.

“I want to thank you so much from the bottom of my heart,” McCain said. “What a great experience it is for a guy who stood fifth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy. If my old Marine company officer were here today, he’d say, ‘In America, anything is possible.’ ”

When asked for his predictions earlier, McCain whipped out his lucky penny. “Today I feel very optimistic that we can win,” he said.

The campaign wasn’t quite so buoyant earlier this week. The Michigan loss to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney dramatically ramped up pressure on McCain to win South Carolina, aides concede. They shy away from saying South Carolina is a must-win but acknowledge it is critical for McCain as he heads into the gauntlet of the Jan. 29 Florida Republican primary and the 24-state contest on Feb. 5.

After South Carolina, “it will be a donnybrook,” McCain strategist Charles Black said Friday. “It will be a big fight, but we’ll be the front-runner in Florida if we win here. And whoever wins Florida -- that’s going to be a huge springboard into Super Tuesday.”

That pressure has meant more strategy huddles over the last week and campaign days sometimes stretching 17 hours, as weary aides dealt with an unusual South Carolina ice storm and 30-degree weather that forced outdoor rallies inside on short notice.

McCain and his aides also tussled over the logistics of transforming their lean New Hampshire operation into a national campaign team.

But by week’s end McCain was content to let others do the worrying for a while.

Sunday will be his first day off in weeks, and he and his wife, Cindy, may slip off to a bungalow on Florida’s Little Palm Island.

McCain said he hoped to catch up on episodes of “The Office” on his iPod (which Cindy programs for him).

He admitted he could scarcely remember his last real bit of “downtime” but said that was just fine with him.

“To be honest with you, this is relaxing to me,” McCain said, holding court with reporters on the bus Friday. “If you’re a junkie, you enjoy it.”

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maeve.reston@latimes.com