Republican Sen. McCain woos old foes in South Carolina

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

SPARTANBURG, South Carolina (Reuters) – Republican Sen.
John McCain of Arizona, an early favorite in a wide open 2008
presidential race, hunted for new friends and courted some old
foes on a visit to the state that sunk his last White House
bid.

McCain traveled on Monday to the heart of conservative
upstate South Carolina, a region where he was crushed by
President George W. Bush in a bitter 2000 primary battle, to
preach his political message of fiscal restraint, legislative
accountability and patience in Iraq.

Two years before the first votes are cast in the nomination
battle, McCain tops the potential Republican presidential pack
in many national polls — mostly a result of his high name
recognition.

But the road to the White House runs through South
Carolina’s early primary again in 2008, and McCain’s visit to
Spartanburg was the first step toward winning over the state’s
conservative Republicans who rejected him in 2000.

“Having run before and served in the U.S. Senate, McCain
will start out as a front-runner nationally and that translates
to South Carolina,” said Warren Tompkins, a Republican
consultant who worked for Bush in 2000.

“But conservatives look at him, rightly or wrongly, with a
question mark. Is he really one of us?” he said.

Rick Beltram, chairman of the Spartanburg County
Republicans, said some of the group’s conservative members
skipped a party dinner featuring McCain, which still drew a
crowd of more than 600 people.

McCain’s maverick reputation, outspoken style and moderate
image sunk him in South Carolina in 2000, when the state’s
party establishment lined up behind Bush in a brutal battle
that left McCain and his supporters fuming.

CONSERVATIVE EMPHASIS

But in recent years McCain has emphasized his conservative
positions on social issues and frequently served as a loyal
Bush team player. He bucked the White House on its torture
policy, but campaigned hard for the president in 2004 and has
been one of his biggest supporters on Iraq.

In his speech on Monday, McCain praised Bush’s moves on
Iraq and federal judges, and called for reining in runaway
government spending and reforming corrupt lobbying practices
that have sparked a widening political scandal.

Many Bush supporters in Spartanburg, the center of the
conservative region where McCain performed worst in 2000, noted
McCain’s turnaround and said he seemed to have found the right
tone.

“He has changed with the times, and people appreciate his
support for President Bush and for the troops in Iraq,” said
Mike Campbell, a candidate for lieutenant governor and son of
former Gov. Carroll Campbell, a Bush supporter in 2000. “If he
ran on the same message as before, he would probably have a
hard time here.”

Robert Farris, a Greenville developer and Bush supporter in
2000, said McCain had “mellowed” since the last campaign.

“This reform mantra that he has come forward with,
curtailing spending and getting us back on a plan of fiscal
restraint, I think that is the right message,” Farris said.

Several Republicans said they were interested in the
potential candidacy of Sen. George Allen of Virginia, a
conservative and fellow Southerner. But they promised to give
McCain a chance if he decides to run in 2008.

“There have been so many conservatives who have
disappointed us, I think people are willing to give him a
look,” said Mike Dixon, a Spartanburg insurance agent.

McCain has a potent ally in Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close
friend who was a junior House member in 2000 but is now the
state’s senior senator. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who
attended the dinner, said the bitterness from the last race was
gone.

“John got a very positive reception in the heart of what is
the conservative base of our state,” Sanford said after the
dinner.

John Weaver, McCain’s longtime political adviser, said he
did not think the senator faced a greater hurdle in South
Carolina then elsewhere and he would make an effort to mend
fences from 2000.

“We would be naive to think that among the combatants down
here there still wouldn’t be some hard feelings,” Weaver said.
“But I wouldn’t trade positions with anybody else who is
thinking of running at this point.”