U.S. Sen. McCain confidently strode onto the stage in Charleston Saturday night as the crowd chanted, “Mac is back!”
South Carolina may have dashed his presidential hopes in 2000, but this time, the Arizona maverick successfully edged out a jumbled field of competitors in the first-in-the South primary.
“It took us a while, but what’s eight years among friends?” McCain told the cheering crowd at The Citadel. “It just gave us the opportunity to spend more time in this beautiful state, to talk with you and listen to you, and to come to admire all the more the deep patriotism of South Carolinians, who have sacrificed so much to defend our country from its enemies.”
Exit polling showed that veterans, independents and older voters powered McCain past former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Update: The county by county voting totals are fascinating and may be found here.
Another update: Exit poll data shows that more than one third of voters were 60 or older.
This however, is what matters:
(I hope the formatting keeps!)
Source: The Associated Press
Republican Delegates (1,191 needed to win nomination)
Candidate Delegates
Rudy Giuliani 1
Mike Huckabee 40
Duncan Hunter 1
John McCain 36
Ron Paul 4
Mitt Romney 59
Fred Thompson [u]5[/u]
Total 146
Democratic Delegates (2,026 needed to win nomination)
Candidate Delegates
Hillary Clinton 236
John Edwards 50
Mike Gravel 0
Dennis Kucinich 1
Barack Obama 136
Bill Richardson [u]0 [/u]
Total 423
mccain gives m some hope for the ’08 election from the gop side
#2 – Why? Why do you think he would make a good president?
McCain is currently in third place delegate wise.