Jan 19, 2008 9:23 pm US/Eastern
McCain Wins South Carolina Primary
COLUMBIA, S.C. (CBS) ―
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Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has won the Republican primary in South Carolina. (File)
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
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Voters sign in to cast their ballots January 19, 2008 at Mount Horeb United Methodist Church in Lexington, South Carolina. Voters took to the polls Saturday in South Carolina's Republican presidential primary.
Eric Thayer/Getty Images
Sen. John McCain won a hard-fought South Carolina primary Saturday night, avenging a bitter personal defeat in a bastion of conservatism and gaining ground in an unpredictable race for the Republican presidential nomination. Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama split the spoils in Nevada caucuses marred by late charges of dirty politics.
"We've got a long way to go," McCain told The Associated Press in an interview. He quickly predicted that his victory in the first southern primary would help him next week when Florida votes, and again on Feb. 5 when more than two dozen states hold primaries and caucuses.
"This is one step on a long journey," Clinton told cheering supporters in Las Vegas. She captured the popular vote, but Obama edged her out for national convention delegates at stake, taking 13 to her 12.
Obama issued a statement that said he had conducted an "honest, uplifting campaign ... that appealed to people's hopes instead of their fears."
If the Democrats had co-front-runners, the Republicans had none, and looked to the first southern state primary to begin winnowing an unwieldy field.
McCain defeated former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in a close race in the state that snuffed out his presidential hopes eight years ago. The Arizonan was gaining 33 percent of the vote to just under 30 percent for his closest rival.
"It just took us a while. That's all. Eight years is not a long time," McCain told the AP.
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson was in a struggle for third place with about 16 percent, after saying he needed a strong showing to sustain his candidacy. Another Republican, California Rep. Duncan Hunter, dropped out even before the votes were tallied.
Stay with CBS 2 HD and wcbstv.com for more on this developing story.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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