McCain Soars Out of New Hampshire to Storm S. Carolina

Before dawn broke Wednesday, Sen. John McCain’s insurgent campaign was already buzzing with energy and showing all the signs of a candidate out of the gates, on the rise and in control.

After blowing out George W. Bush in New Hampshire by 19 points, McCain arrived in South Carolina at 2:30 a.m. to a cheering throng of more than 500 students. By noon, money was pouring into his Internet site at 20 times the normal rate, aides said. And throughout the day, McCain staffers quietly discussed the possibility of sealing the nomination by winning the upcoming primaries in South Carolina, Arizona and Michigan.

McCain also looked ahead to the nomination, describing his newly energized race as a “great national crusade” and declaring that the New Hampshire results prove that he is electable. The Arizona senator said he would ride his centrist message of campaign finance reform to victory.

“Electability is all about getting the support of the political center,” McCain told reporters at a news conference. “I’ve got Republican conservatives and I’ll retain my base. But with this message of reform, we’ll attract to our campaign people from all over the political spectrum, not because they agree with my conservative views, but because they’re sick and tired of the special interests ruling Washington.

“My message to our Republican leadership is that we can win,” McCain said.

He’s Facing a Daunting Challenge

McCain faces a daunting challenge in some of the upcoming primaries where Bush is better organized, better funded and ahead in the polls. But the excitement on his campaign Wednesday stood in marked contrast to Bush, who lurched right to win over South Carolina voters, who are more conservative than the independent-minded residents of New Hampshire.

McCain’s wild ride on Wednesday began as he touched down in Greenville, S.C., just hours after the polls closed in New Hampshire, a press hoard in tow nearly double the size he had previously attracted.

He was greeted by a writhing mass of more than 500 college students in an airport hangar converted into a dance floor and campaign rally. As McCain’s bus pulled into the cavernous space, before a flag nearly twice the vehicle’s size, the crowd began chanting McCain’s name over and over.

“We won because we worked,” McCain shouted above the noise. “But we really won because the message we delivered is we’re going to take the government out of the hands of the big money special interests and give it back to you.”

The 63-year-old senator then did three back-to-back interviews for all the network early morning news programs before turning into his hotel room for all of 1 1/2 hours of sleep. He was back in front of a crowd at a Spartanburg diner by 9:30 a.m.

Invigorated by Size of Win

McCain always said he had to win in New Hampshire to continue his upstart campaign. But the size and dominance of the victory clearly invigorated him. Suddenly, there was little talk of the tax cut battle that dominated Republican debates in New Hampshire. Instead, it was all about McCain’s crusade for campaign finance reform.

At a rally at Presbyterian College here, McCain became an honorary “Blue Hose,” the mascot in this old mill town. Then he told the students that his campaign was aimed at young people.

“This is a great crusade we’ve embarked on,” he said. “This is a crusade that can only end in us giving the government back to you and having a far greater nation as a result of it.”

McCain staffers, clearly thrilled that the size of their New Hampshire victory exceeded the prediction in polls, said that if the senator could win the South Carolina primary on Feb. 19, and then the Arizona and Michigan primaries on Feb. 22, Bush would have great difficulty winning the nomination that had once seemed inevitable.

“I can’t for the life of me understand how someone would be able to withstand four losses, no matter how much money they have,” said Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager.

Privately, McCain staffers said they were anticipating a series of negative television ads from the Bush camp that would attempt to paint McCain as a liberal. “They’re in a corner,” one aide said.

As proof of the strength of his newfound momentum, McCain aides pointed to a burst of fund-raising. Since the polls closed in New Hampshire on Tuesday night, McCain registered $500,000 in new pledges over his Internet site.

Campaign organizers planned to expand their staff from about 65 paid workers to about 90 in the next few weeks. John Weaver, McCain’s campaign director, jokingly compared the campaign to a kind of circus desperately in need of manpower.

“We need more rope, we need more roadies, we need more trucks in the caravan,” Weaver said. “We need more infrastructure.”