January 15, 2008
Posted: 05:25 PM ET
Huckabee is looking to compete statewide in South Carolina.
LEXINGTON, South Carolina (CNN) — Mike Huckabee plans to take on John McCain in the Arizona senator's South Carolina strongholds. The two men are battling for the lead in the state in most recent surveys. Conventional wisdom holds that Baptist minister's pockets of strength in the state lie where George W. Bush's did in 2000: in heavily-evangelical counties like Greenville and Spartanburg, and deeply-conservative areas like Lexington County near Columbia. This past weekend, Huckabee volunteers knocked on 8,000 doors in that bellwether county alone. But Huckabee aides told CNN that the governor will be campaigning throughout the state — including multiple stops in areas where McCain enjoys his strongest support, like Charleston, Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach along the South Carolina coastline. "We've always said we're going after the whole state," said one Huckabee staffer. In 2000, McCain won several counties along the coast thanks to the sizeable population of veterans and national security voters there. The areas have since swelled with retirees, many from out of state. Huckabee's campaign thinks he can swing some of those voters his way. On Thursday, taking a page out of Mitt Romney's playbook, Huckabee will fly around the state on a chartered jet, hitting as many media markets as he can. The former Arkansas governor will be watching the Michigan primary returns from friendly southern terrain on Tuesday evening, hosting a rally for supporters at the popular South Carolina barbecue joint Hudson's Smokehouse in Lexington. – CNN South Carolina Producer Peter Hamby
Filed under: John McCain Mike Huckabee South Carolina |
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