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Results of the Nevada Caucus and the South Carolina Primary
Aired January 19, 2008 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Here in conservative evangelic. South Carolina, where McCain is running better and competitive in Spartanburg where Thompson is getting 20 percent of the vote. It could be a big factor in this race.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: It would be ironic if the Fred factor hurts Huckabee and helps McCain. Maybe it wouldn't be because a lot of people suspect if Fred Thompson drops out he would endorse John McCain.
COOPER: I was right here with him yesterday and he was criticizing McCain, my friend John is wrong on immigration, and moved on and went on for 10 minutes criticizing Governor Huckabee on immigration policy, economic policy and foreign policy. Fred Thompson's target was Mike Huckabee and it could have an impact.
BLITZER: We heard him speak a little while ago and it sounded like he was rethinking his strategy coming in not as well as he hoped.
I want to point out to viewers, if they are interested in getting the inside story, they can follow the results county by county by county. They can go to cnnpolitics.com and take a look at these numbers coming in.
And John is pointing out 67 percent of the precincts have now reported. McCain continues to have his lead at 34-29 percent over Huckabee. A steady lead at 67 percent.
We can't project a winner yet because as John reported some of the counties haven't reported the any numbers yet. We are watching it closely. As soon as we know what's going on, we will share it with you.
Let's go back to Anderson and the best political team on television.
COOPER: Thanks very much.
We did hear from Fred Thompson and it sounded like a concession speech. He was talking in the past tense a lot about the road they have traveled thus far.
If Fred Thompson helped McCain by taking away votes from Mike Huckabee, what would happen going forward if Fred Thompson does drop out? Who would that help?
GLORIA BORGER, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's unclear. I have been e-mailing a bunch of Republicans saying where would that vote go? They are not clear because, don't forget, he ran. Thompson is a good friend of John McCain's and has been a campaign buddy in a way. He ran as a conservative Republican on those social issues, also very different from McCain on immigration. Some of those votes could get siphoned off to Mike Huckabee or Mitt Romney if it were on immigration and some could end up helping John McCain. It's very unclear that all of the Thompson support would go to any particular Republican candidate.
COOPER: In some of these districts that John McCain was just looking at, McCain was doing a good job of appealing to evangelical voters.
BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: There a lot of voters in South Carolina and it's intriguing to think that Fred Thompson has helped John McCain keep this lead if he wins. It won't be possible to say Fred Thompson helped him win. Thompson was running and attacking Huckabee and running to the right of Huckabee on this some things and was not part of the economic populism theme and was tough on immigration all the way through, Huckabee changed things. And was supportive of the Bush foreign policy where Huckabee was wobbly. It's interesting to think and my guess is just that.
If you take Fred's 16, maybe nine or 10 would go to Huckabee. We will see how the tally ends up. Maybe he is in for U.S. attorney for New York. What does he do on "Law and Order?
COOPER: He was a district attorney.
(CROSSTALK)
BORGER: If McCain ends up winning tonight, I have been watching him for so many years, he finally gotten initiated into the Republican Party and finally been accepted into this club that we kind of never let him join.
COOPER: Sort of like Sally Field -- they like me. They really like me.
BORGER: Right. He was too much of a maverick and too much of an Independent and wasn't establishment enough. In South Carolina this time as opposed to his run in 2000, he garnered support of the Republican establishment. You cannot discount that. If he wins tonight, that will have been very, very big boost for John McCain.
AMY HOLMES, CNN ANALYST: I was going to say, I don't know if Republicans say we like you, we really, really like you so much as you will do. You are the best we have to go up against a Democratic nominee in this election. Looking at the map that John McCain was pointing at, the question about the snow birds, those retirees, were still up in the air to the extent that they were military, would that help? To the extent that they were north easterners, would they tend towards a Democratic side and looking at those candidates? The fact that John McCain is doing well, both very well in those groups bodes very well for just south of him in Georgia and in a future primary and getting those voters and also in Florida where you have a lot of the same population.
CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The person really praying for Huckabee to pull out is Mitt Romney. He would be the real beneficiary if Huckabee could pull this out.
HOLMES: and I would add Giuliani to that list.
BERNSTEIN: If McCain goes ahead and wins this, it's Romney that gets in the way and hurts the worst in terms of a credible Republican candidate with broader appeal.
COOPER: McCain would become the front-runner?
BERNSTEIN: More than the front-runner. It would really make Romney's disadvantage in everything but money debilitating almost.
Another thing, I was watching Romney give that speech and he talks about his business experience. It's time for a little reporting in this campaign. There was an awful lot of good stuff reported during the '94 Senate campaign in Massachusetts, when Romney ran for Senate, about what his business experience was in leveraged buy outs and the loss of jobs...
COOPER: He talked a lot in Michigan about being able to create jobs and bring jobs back.
BERNSTEIN: It seems to me that if Romney is able to persist which is dubious to begin with, we will see reporting in the mainstream press for the first time on what his business experience is. I think that might not be to his advantage to have that kind of scrutiny.
COOPER: Do you think his message that he has really been hitting very hard since Michigan, that he's an outsider and you don't see him in a time jacket anymore. He is not a Washington insider and he has this business background, is that resonating?
BORGER: Yeah. It definitely is. The interesting thing is you have seen a change versus experience race on the Democratic side. If it turns out to be Romney against McCain, you will see the change versus experience on the Republican side. Romney is going to present himself as the outsider and the change candidate.
COOPER: Briefly, I want to wrap up the Obama discussion we had earlier about Ronald Reagan. A couple more points you folks wanted to make. Rolland Martin starting off saying it was a tactical mistake for Barack Obama to praise Ronald Reagan to the extent he did.
BORGER: It's sort of a question of Hillary Clinton attacking Barack Obama for mentioning Ronald Reagan. It was Bill Clinton who established or was a founder of the Democratic Leadership Council and was a wing of the Democratic Party to come up with new ideas because the Reagan administration was the one coming up with new ideas and they were bankrupt. Bill Clinton was admitting it.
COOPER: Carl Bernstein? BERNSTEIN: It was more about censurism. The Democratic Leadership Council -- Donna knows more about this than I do -- needed the council. Democrats needed to overcome the Republicans. But there have been a number of occasions on which Bill Clinton praised Ronald Reagan in terms of the words he used after Reagan died, he said he personified the optimism of the American people and for keeping America at the forefront of the fight for freedom for people everywhere.
(CROSSTALK)
BERNSTEIN: Also on a number of occasions -- look, Clinton hated the politics of the Bush-Reagan era. At the same time there are qualities as a politician that Bill Clinton has spoken admirably about Ronald Reagan about in the past. That's where Obama was going, but there's no question did Obama step on his foot here in terms of what's coming up in South Carolina and it's still stinging a little bit.
At the same time Obama is trying to do something that Clinton did, to appeal beyond the normal base early on to look towards the general election and I can win more Republican votes than Hillary Clinton. That's what we need to look at.
COOPER: We should also point out Hillary Clinton, from her web site, her list of favorite presidents, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, both Roosevelts, Truman, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.
BERNSTEIN: There you go. There you have it.
COOPER: We are going to take a short break.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: We are going take a break. Our coverage continues in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We are going to show you what we know in South Carolina right now-- 79 percent of the precincts have reported. It's close. McCain with 33 percent and Huckabee 30 percent. There's a fight for third place between Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney, 15 percent for Thompson, 15 percent for Romney. It's very close right now.
Let's take a look at the real numbers coming in with 79 percent of the precincts reporting. McCain has 116,500 or so. Huckabee has 103,180. Everyone else way down. It's close, but McCain maintained a steady lead now for sometime, 79 percent of the precincts reporting. We have the exit polls.
We are still not projecting a winner yet. Tell our viewers why. As you do, John, those counties that are white are counties that have not yet reported any numbers.
JOHN KING, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right, Wolf, and they are the key. Two of the three keys are right here. Horry County and this is Myrtle Beach area. No results yet. This is where they had problems earlier in the day. They had some paper ballots that they're hand counting.
Why is this important? Number one, more than 200,000 people live there. Number two, if you are John McCain, you have been winning along the coast -- let's go back in time. This was a place where he beat George W. Bush big in 2000 campaign. He needs to repeat the let's fast forward to 2008.
Let's come back to the full state and let's come fast forward. This is Horry County. This right here is another key. Let's bring it out in Florence County. No results in at all yet. If you are the Huckabee campaign, you are watching this and watching it closely. This is why. Let's go back in time. A much more conservative place where George W. Bush beat Senator McCain by 30 points. A conservative place where, looking at these results, Huckabee has to do well. Let's come back to a smaller county.
BLITZER: It's a small county population-wise than Horry County.
KING: About half the size, about 130,000 people in the county. Another thing we have been watching all night long, up here in the Bible Belt. The last time we spoke, Senator McCain was ahead in Greenville. Governor Huckabee pulled ahead. That's not the type of margin Huckabee would have wanted to be comfortable about winning the state. It could be the Fred factor and 86 percent past Senator McCain. That could be a story as we go forward.
Let's pull back out to the full state. We are up to 82 percent, but still waiting on two populous counties. This is McCain country. He needs to win here by big margins. If you are Governor Huckabee and you are looking at this, you are at 105 and Senator McCain ahead of you. More results coming in. About a 13,000 vote difference now.
If you are Governor Huckabee, there are two calculations. Can you beat Senator McCain big in Florence County? What is McCain's margin in Horry County, a place he is expected to win? Those are places we are waiting on. Again, there are paper ballots and the count is slower than anticipated.
BLITZER: Even though McCain is ahead in these counties in the light tan Huckabee is ahead, not 100 percent of all the precincts have reported. There are still opportunities.
KING: We are getting close in most of these places. This is Spartanburg County, a place where Huckabee needed to win big. We are up to 96 percent. We are getting higher totals in most of the state.
This is a place that Huckabee is winning, Spartanburg County, but not by a huge margin, about 7 points. We said this in Greenville and want to say it again. If this is a close race won by Senator McCain, Thompson's numbers in Greenville and Spartanburg County are going to be looked at closely in the days ahead.
Let's pull back out to the full state, 82 percent and crunch time. We are waiting on the counties and Florence, much more conservative. McCain needs to win this. Huckabee needs to emulate the Bush numbers in 2000.
BLITZER: They are counting them by hand. We don't know how long that is going to take. That complicates the matter. Stand by, John. We will continue on a monitor of what's going on.
I want to go to Dana Bash. She is at McCain headquarters.
Dana, what's the mood like?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a definite sense of excitement here. We've heard several of Senator McCain's supporters and local chairman coming to the podium. It will be a good night and they're expected to hear from Senator McCain too soon. Senator McCain is not here.
I'm at the Citadel where Senator McCain's party is tonight. He is nearby in his hotel. He is actually watching us and watching the returns. He is with his family and his closest supporters here in South Carolina. It's hard to imagine what is mood is in that room for John McCain given his history here in the state of South Carolina. And this is the state that definitely dealt him his fatal blow in the year 2000. This could be a state -- could be a state, if things go the way they are feeling in this room that he wants it to go.
It's very interesting to sort of get this sense of John McCain's -- the vibe -- that I was with him in New Hampshire. You got the sense that perhaps he was somebody on the verge of a come back. Of course in the next primary state of Michigan, where he won eight years ago, he was dealt another blow. Senator McCain likes to say over and over again that they didn't pay attention to us when we were behind. Everybody needs to take a breath. We are not sure we will keep the momentum going.
They already in the McCain campaign start look ahead to the state of Florida. They're already up, we're told, up with about $1 million in advertising. That's a lot of money for a campaign that doesn't have a lot of money. They are definitely getting the sense and the hope that they have the momentum again that we have been talking about all night that no Republican has been able to seize in the election campaign.
BLITZER: I think what we are hearing with applause going on. The Associated Press is now projecting that McCain will win the South Carolina Republican primary. The Associated Press basing their projection on the exit polls that we have known about for sometime as well as the real numbers that came in. 82 percent of the precincts have now reported. McCain maintained a steady lead with 33 percent to Huckabee's 30 percent. The Associated Press now projecting that McCain will win in South Carolina.
We are not yet ready, here at CNN, to make that projection, but it's interesting that the Associated Press crunched their numbers and came up with the conclusion that John McCain will carry South Carolina.
They are excited and thrilled over there behind you, Dana. As you know, South Carolina had a pretty good track record since 1980 in helping to select the Republican presidential nominee.
BASH: It's at 100 percent track record since 1980 in selecting the Republican nominee. You hear that tremendous excitement behind me. They are hearing the news you talked about with the Associated Press declaring that general is the winner here. It's important to note that CNN is not ready to declare that.
Senator McCain when you look at the map as you have been looking at all evening, Senator McCain clearly did a lot better than he did eight years ago in the more conservative areas of the state. You have been talking a lot about the Fred factor. I can tell you -- forgive me, I'm hearing over my shoulder they're saying that Senator McCain will be here shortly.
What I started to say was the Fred factor you have been talking about. After Senator McCain's win in New Hampshire, I was talking to his close advisor about whether or not Senator Thompson would help or hurt Senator McCain here in this state and this person said we think it will help. We think it may give us our win in South Carolina to pull votes away from Mike Huckabee. That might have been what happened this evening in South Carolina.
BLITZER: Dana, stand by. We are standing by and presumably will be hearing from John McCain at some point later tonight. We'll bring his remarks live.
I want to go back to John King. You're crunching the numbers and looking at the counties. You used to work for the Associated Press.
Why do you think based on their review of the numbers and the exit polls and the real numbers that are coming in, why do they feel confident to project John McCain the winner of South Carolina?
KING: You look at the exit polls and the votes coming in tonight and what happened in the past. What they are see figure they compare this to 2000, as we said, John McCain is not only winning and doing well in the places he did, but he is winning by big margins. Charleston County, you see McCain at 45 percent and Romney in second place. Huckabee behind him. You come back out to the full statewide map and the places where we said all night long, Huckabee had to do well, but he is winning and not by visible margins.
What is left? We are being cautious here at CNN, as we think it's the right thing to do. What is left? It's here. Horry County, a place John McCain won big in 2000. He is winning the similar counties next door.
The AP, even though there several counties to vote, they're waiting on some paper ballots coming in. There's every reason to believe based on history that this county will go like the neighboring counties. This county here is a big county, back in 2000 for George W. Bush. It was a big county as you can see. In this margin, only 15,000 Republican votes were cast in the primary in 2000.
If we come forward in time now, here's your margin, 15,000 is the margin statewide right now. In all of these other counties, where Governor Huckabee has done well, he is not winning by a sizable enough margin to make up the votes in that one county.
BLITZER: Stand by for a second.
CNN is ready to project that John McCain is the winner of the South Carolina Republican primary. John McCain, the long-term senator from the state of Arizona. An important victory for John McCain. Based on everything that we know right now with more than 80 percent of the precincts reporting based on the exit polls and the outstanding votes, CNN projects that John McCain will win the primary in South Carolina. And that will help him get ready for the next big challenge on Florida, January 22nd.
A big win for John McCain. He did it despite serious problems that he's had over these many, many months. He is showing a dramatic come back in South Carolina, a state that had a 100 percent track record since 1980 in helping to pick the Republican presidential nominee.
Mike Huckabee will come in a close second, but it's still a second and not first place. John McCain will carry South Carolina and go on to the next big challenge in Florida.
The Nevada Republican caucuses, Mitt Romney decisively carried Nevada as well.
The bottom line, this race still remains wide open. Still remains a major contest as we go to the next battle ground in Florida. A big win for John McCain tonight in South Carolina. A win he will relish and will be coming out and speaking to supporters at some point. Probably sooner rather than later and speak from his heart and tell the voters out there in South Carolina thanks, many thanks. He will project going forward to Florida.
Mike Huckabee, Anderson Cooper, has nothing really to be ashamed about. He is doing very, very well, but second place as all of us know is not first place. He will continue his campaign going on to Florida.
It would have been important for Huckabee to carry South Carolina, but somebody has to win and somebody has to come in second. Looks like John McCain will win and Huckabee will come in second.
COOPER: A close race, but the night belongs to John McCain. Moving forward, what does it mean? He is the front-runner now?
BORGER: We sort of name front-runners anymore. Is the Republican front-runner. This is a night that John McCain has been thinking about for the last eight years. This is political vindication for John McCain because he got destroyed in South Carolina. His presidential hopes went up in names and a very, very nasty race.
This time he came back and had the establishment Republican Party with him and he won. He didn't win in Michigan. This is reversed from 2000 because in 2000 we had the opposite result. He lost South Carolina and he won Michigan. Here he managed to come back. This is a huge vindication for him.
However, I think this is this is a race unlike any other I have seen. I think he goes to Florida with a small win at his back, but not a huge win. Anything can happen.
COOPER: A remarkable night for the man who faced so many obstacles the last time in South Carolina?
BERNSTEIN: Boy, like on to think they are tough. Toughness is admired with boys and they tend to make a mistake and they think tough means macho. Tough means resilient. Talk about the guy for who this guy was invented. John McCain, 5.5 years in the prison camp. How many things can we cite. He was declared dead. His stand on immigration.
As Amy said, the Republican Party will welcome him, sort of. He is still heretical. When he does, he will be kind of grumpy in his response. There he is. It's a heck of an achievement. I think he's clearly the front-runner. He is ahead in Florida right now before this win. I think this gives him a strong lead.
BORGER: No predictions. No predictions.
BERNSTEIN: I can't do that.
BORGER: No.
(?): John McCain went back into that state with the defeat in 2000. He was able to get the establishment and state lawmakers and the state attorney general. He put together a great organization that went into the hill country and competed for the evangelical vote. He's winning 27 percent. That's not enough. I do believe when you look at the results John McCain won across the state. This was a tough guy going into a tough primary in Florida. He shares the title in my judgment with Mitt Romney going into the Sunshine State.
I want to talk to the back bench, but first, I want to clarify the -- point out a comment I made earlier about Hillary Clinton citing Ronald Reagan as her favorite presidents. The newspaper that quoted her saying that has backtracked and said she didn't say that. She praised his communication skills. It is on the web site. They have now backtracked saying she never said it.
Amy Holmes, for John McCain, what does it mean for Mike Huckabee?
HOLMES: It means it's over. He may be a vice presidential candidate or look good on that front, but he won't have the money. He may decide to go to Florida because of ambition or ego, but will he be able to keep paying the Bills to get on the plane and send staff down there and compete? I don't see it.
But going back to John McCain, he is a strong pro-lifer and now he is finally connecting with the evangelical on some of those issues. Looking at South Carolina, the number one issue was the economy and number two is immigration. Those are places where John McCain was not strong. In Michigan, when he was giving his straight talk, tough talk, that hurt him there. He had to recalibrate his message and go back to talking about cutting taxes and government spending. If he could overcome two issues which are not his strength, they are the top two among South Carolinians and evangelicals and core conservatives, is a really big night for John McCain.
COOPER: Right before Carl comments, I want to point out that we are at Huckabee headquarters and watching the stage closely. We anticipate him coming out any moment and speak to the crowd. We will bring that live.
Carl, your thoughts on John McCain's win.
BERNSTEIN: It changes the dynamics on everything, including the general atmosphere going into February 5th in both parties. You now have four huge figures involved, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, all of them with great personal stories and all of them with huge abilities to connect with people. There will be less concentration in the media on the mechanics and on the pie charts and on the polls in terms of why voters are doing this for this reason or that. It will turn more on personalities and records and what these people do in their interaction, including reintroducing the war.
Remember, McCain wants this war won. He doesn't want a withdrawal. And the Democrats all do want to withdraw.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to bring in John King. You had some thoughts about what Amy Holmes said regarding Mike Huckabee.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't want to be the skunk at Senator McCain's celebration because this is a huge night especially given his history in South Carolina, but the challenge for John McCain now is to grow. He is winning a very conservative state tonight, but he is doing it in a multi-candidate field, Anderson, with somewhere in the ballpark of 33 percent of the vote.
That margin might grow a little bit when Horry County (ph) comes in, if it comes in as we expect it to, but he is winning a third of the vote in a very conservative state. He is winning South Carolina. That is huge. I do not want to underplay the significance of that, but if you are Mike Huckabee and this campaign after Florida is going into some other southern states your assumption is Fred Thompson is not going to be there to get 20 percent as he did in Greenville County (ph) and 20 percent as he did in Spartanburg County (ph), so until John McCain proves he can do well in a smaller field and prove to conservatives I am for real this time, if you are Mike Huckabee and you can raise a little bit more money, you will stay in this race in even if you are on fumes...
COOPER: So without Fred Thompson to take away votes, he could have been much more competitive obviously.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah and I think also Rudy Giuliani is probably sitting there tonight looking at this and going (INAUDIBLE) this is not so great for Rudy Giuliani because McCain has some wind in his back now.
COOPER: Hasn't he said that just about every night...
BORGER: Yeah. Right, I think he has, but if Huckabee had won it would have been a lot better for Rudy Giuliani, but McCain and Giuliani share that national security turf and McCain probably trumps Giuliani on it.
BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: To pick up on something Carl said, he took a chance like no other candidate. Remember he said I would rather lose the election than the war. He put -- identified himself with this surge. He did not know it was going to work, but he said this is where I am. This is where I am going to put myself and the whole world watched. It was quite something.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: I mean it's not surprising from a guy who I mean was critical of the way the war was being fought when a few others in the Republican Party were.
BENNETT: But he didn't have to say identify himself with this. He could have just said I think this thing has been mismanaged. If I'm president I'll do a better job. He said this is going to go and this is going to work.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Anderson, quickly, he pushed forward at a time when he was already in the tank because of his immigration policy.
BENNETT: That's right.
KING: So you've got to give him credit for standing up. I think he still has a lot to prove. He's got a big night tonight. He's the front runner, but he now has to prove himself and consolidate. That's his challenge.
BORGER: You know the one thing you can say about John McCain is he is who he is and he's always been the same fellow. He hasn't changed at all because of the voters.
COOPER: Mike Huckabee headquarters is where we're at. Mary Snow is standing by there. Mary, obviously not the result those at the Huckabee headquarters wanted to have, but they seem enthusiastic.
Mike Huckabee is in the room. Obviously it's, as I said, it is not the result they had hoped for, but the reason for enthusiasm. Mary Snow, can you hear me? What are you seeing there?
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (INAUDIBLE)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (INAUDIBLE)
HUCKABEE: Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: Thank you very much. God bless you and thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: Thank you. Thank you very, very much.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Huckabee. Huckabee. Huckabee.
HUCKABEE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Huckabee. Huckabee. Huckabee.
HUCKABEE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Huckabee. Huckabee. Huckabee.
HUCKABEE: Thank you. Well just a few moments ago, I made a phone call to Senator McCain and I offered him my congratulations. I told him that I would much rather prefer that he had called me tonight. But he was very gracious as we knew he would be. And I was certainly willing to compliment him. I want to thank him for running a civil and a good and a decent campaign to elevate politics and he is to be congratulated.
One of the things I'm proud of, those of us, the two of us who finished at the top ran a campaign with a level of civility, without attacking each other and even though I would like for the outcome to be just a little different on the top and in the second place, I had rather be where I am and have done it with honor than to have won with the dishonor of getting there by attacking somebody else and I'm grateful.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: I am grateful for the campaign that you have been willing to run with me and grateful for the campaign that he has run as well. Obviously tonight we wanted to come here and declare a South Carolina victory. We got awful close. Unfortunately in politics, close doesn't count for the first slot, but it does count. The reason that I want to encourage you tonight is to remind you that politics and particularly this year more than perhaps any other, this is not an event. It is a process. And the process is far, far from over.
(APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: Obviously I'm deeply grateful to our South Carolina team working their hearts out. To Mike Campbell (ph), our state chairman, his wonderful mother, Iris Campbell (ph), I thank you so very much. God bless you. (APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: To my friend former Governor David Beasley (ph) and his wife, Mary Wood (ph), once again stuck his neck out and just was able to campaign with me all over this country. And here in South Carolina and I just want to thank him also for jumping in and we will look forward to having him on the trail and other places as well.
(APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: Our lieutenant government, Andre Bower (ph) and for his willingness to endorse us this week and in many ways I believe that we will leave South Carolina not only with incredible numbers of friends, but I believe with a renewed unity in the Republican Party of South Carolina bringing these two men, Mike Campbell (ph) and Andre Bower (ph) to the same stage and both of them have an incredibly great future as does South Carolina, a most wonderful state. And I'm grateful for all you have done.
(APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: I cannot begin to say thanks enough for our staff. These are the people that honestly I don't know how many weeks a person can go without sleep, but they are going to test the absolute outer limits of it before this campaign is over. Most campaigns have three people to one that we have on our staff. And they have just worked not with complaint, but with the commitment that I have never seen ever.
And in the volunteers, many of you have come here from all over America at your own expense. It's incredible. We've had people that literally have made phone calls for us, some of whom are in Europe. And they have used their free cell phone weekend minutes to make calls back to South Carolina and encourage people to come vote. It's unbelievable.
(APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: Let me just say that tonight is not a time to start asking what if. It's a time to start talking about what now. We are not going to sit around and second-guess well what if we had done -- what if -- no, you know what? I feel like that our effort here, we gave everything we had. We left it all on the field. I don't want anyone who worked in this campaign from our volunteers to our staff to feel anything other than an extraordinary sense of pride and also a sense of just sheer joy that we got as far as we did when nobody thought it was even possible for us to be (INAUDIBLE).
(APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: Let me tell you and remind you how we got here. It wasn't because we had the most money, the most consultants, the most staff, the most resources, the most polls, the most focus groups. Here's what we had. What we had was we had a message that has connected and continues to connect with people all over this country who have feared that they have been forgotten and have become invisible to many political people.
And they fear that maybe they matter just as much because what they really want is they want a government that will take the heavy burden of taxation off their backs. They want a government that will start thinking about how much money it is spending and stop it and finally start acting with some level of sanity when it comes to spending the very dollars they have taken from us.
People want a government that recognizes that mothers and fathers really do raise better children than governments do. They want a government that leaves them alone so they can raise their children as they see fit. Not what the government...
(APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: They want a government who will finally build a fence, secure our borders and confront the issue not just of illegal immigration, but confront the greater issue that is plaguing so many people in South Carolina and the rest of America and that is the fear that tomorrow they will lose their jobs and not be able to put food on their table and clothes on their kids' backs. For every person out there who is serving the food and driving the trucks and who is sitting in the front of the cabs and not the back seat, for the ones who are on the lines of the factories and climbing up and down the ladders, carrying paint buckets in their hands and hammers, we want to be a campaign that says there is room in the Republican Party for you and in fact the Republican Party is all about making sure that everybody in this country has the best kind of future and that message and that mission is far from over tonight.
And that's why I don't want us to leave here saying well, the game has ended. No, we have just finished one of the quarters of play. My dear friend Clay McClary (ph) who I love to quote on occasions like this who is a South Carolinian, I love what he says. He says "I've never lost at anything I have ever done. Sometimes the game ends before I get finished playing, but I've never lost at anything I have done."
And ladies and gentlemen, I want you to know we didn't lose tonight. Game ended a little early for us, but I also want you to know this. The path to the White House is not ending here tonight. We are resetting the clock. We are resetting all of the gauges.
(APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: We have learned and tomorrow after a little bit of sleep, we wake up to fight the battle yet again and yet again and I still believe a year from now all of you that have helped us get there will be in Washington for the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States. Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: Let me say a final word of thanks to my wife Janet (ph) and my children. It's tough to run for office. The only thing more difficult than running for office is to be married to the guy who does. And she has been willing and ready and has given her all and has never flinched in her undying support for what we are about.
And I want to say to every one of you how much we love you, how much we thank you. The people of South Carolina have been magnificent to us. Your hospitality, your warmth, your support, your encouragement, enthusiasm and everything you have done for us, I just cannot begin to tell you what a deep and wonderful impression you've left with us.
Even if we didn't come in first in the results tonight, you have come in first in our hearts by giving us the kind of wonderful experience that everybody in life ought to just once be able to have. I'm even wearing this South Carolina tie tonight.
(APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: And wearing it with an extraordinary sense of gratitude and pride as a symbol and a reminder of how grateful we are to your wonderful, wonderful gifts to us and your love and your support. It's on from here tomorrow in Texas, Monday in Georgia and Florida and then on in Florida again.
We've got a lot of miles ahead of us. It's a long process and a long path, but I want to make sure that you know that after you get just a little bit of sleep, we need you back, ready, able, and willing to take it to the White House. Thank you. God bless you. Thank you, every one of you. Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Governor Mike Huckabee has delivered what amounts to his concession speech, saying he phoned John McCain, the winner of the South Carolina Republican primary to congratulate him. It won't be long before we hear from that winner, Senator John McCain. He will be going out to his headquarters very, very soon to deliver his victory speech and to address his supporters.
We are standing by to bring that to you live. John McCain, the winner of the South Carolina Republican primary. Ninety-seven percent of the precincts have now reported. And that lead that he's had for sometime, 33 percent over Huckabee's 30 percent, it is the same lead it has been maintained.
Thompson and Romney fighting for third place; Thompson with 16 percent; Mitt Romney with 15 percent; and Mitt Romney did win the Nevada caucuses earlier in the day, but the big story in South Carolina among the Republicans is that John McCain is the winner. For those of you who are wondering what about the Democrats in South Carolina.
Where are they? Their primary is next Saturday. One week from today. We will be watching the Democrats in South Carolina. That's their big contest. It comes up one week from today. The Republicans though, they had their moment in South Carolina today and it unfolded as it did with John McCain the winner of the South Carolina primary and an important win for him. And he will be speaking, as I say, to his supporters momentarily. We will go there live to McCain headquarters and we'll all be able to hear what he has to say. For the Republicans, they will move on to Florida on January 29th and that's where the next major contest will happen, but only a few days after that.
It will be the Super Tuesday contest and so many states, more than 20, about 25 all over the country. And those states include some huge states like New York and California. And it's anyone's guess who is going to do well in those states.
We are awaiting John McCain, the winner of the South Carolina Republican primary. We'll go to his remarks live as soon as he starts talking, but let's get some analysis on what we just heard from Mike Huckabee, Anderson Cooper and the best political team on television are standing by for that.
He is fighting on. He is moving. He is not giving up. He says you know what, second isn't first, but it's good enough for him to continue.
COOPER: In fact, we already got word there is a fund-raiser I think in Texas that Chuck Norris is giving, so clearly...
BORGER: They're not giving up. I mean why not continue in the south for -- I mean you know if Mike Huckabee is going to have any strength, that's where he is going to have it, so if he is a serious candidate...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Especially with Fred Thompson, he is very close to dropping out.
BORGER: Yeah.
COOPER: ... it would appear at this point, given the speech that he made earlier that would probably be a plus for...
BORGER: It would. I think Huckabee has a problem though and that is the longer he is out there, the less he seems to appeal to a lot of people who liked him at first because he seemed like a breath of fresh air. That happens to candidates once they have been around the block. But he has said a few things in these primaries that have kind of come back to haunt him.
The economic issue is big. He doesn't seem to have much economic expertise, foreign policy expertise. People are giving Mike Huckabee a second look. Not the evangelicals who will support him no matter what because they're devoted to him, but other Republicans, other conservative Republicans are giving him a second look and saying maybe...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: What we did here in South Carolina, Bill, evangelicals you know actually giving him a second look, saying you know ending up going for John McCain based on patriotism and based on character, based on fiscal responsibility.
BENNETT: Yeah, I think the logic of John King -- where is John King...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's at the map.
BENNETT: There he is at the map -- good where he should be.
(LAUGHTER)
BENNETT: The logic of his argument I think is inescapable. If you say some of this victory for McCain is attributable to Thompson's presence in the race, then can you say that if Thompson is not in the race, you got a three-point margin and you're talking about conservatives, some of that may include Huckabee.
Right, I think so, but I agree with Gloria to that he -- I don't think he is wearing well outside of his base. He is not bringing in more people. And second, remember what happens after Florida at Super Tuesday. Yeah, there are some southern states, but there are also some real big states with tons of delegates like New York and New Jersey and California.
COOPER: Do you think this will be decided by Super Tuesday?
BENNETT: Yes. By -- you mean...
(CROSSTALK)
BENNETT: I think if McCain wins Florida, I think it's pretty much over.
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I disagree. Look, you have so many states deciding on Super Tuesday. You have Georgia, of course Arkansas as Mr. Huckabee's home state, Tennessee. There are enough states, enough delegates in play for you know somewhat of an inconclusive finish. I mean Romney can do well in the northeast. McCain can do well in the western states. And Huckabee can you know perhaps win a southern state or two.
BORGER: I say on to Texas and Ohio and march forth.
COOPER: Onward. Onward. Onward...
BORGER: Onward. Onward...
COOPER: Not giving up.
BERNSTEIN: There's a human factor here and that is that Huckabee has been having a hell of a good time. He enjoys this. And you know he has never had this kind of national exposure before and he's not going to stop and he is getting money. He is going to pursue this as long as he can. It doesn't mean he's going to win, but it's a little bit different what he has to gain by staying out there. AMY HOLMES: I certainly think there is probably a lot to that too, but in looking at the whole question about Fred Thompson, I think it's very murky, very muddled. You have recent Pew research showing that Huckabee supporters like McCain. So if there are people who voted for Fred Thompson who can also vote for Huckabee, it means they could also vote for McCain and if Fred Thompson comes forward and he endorses John McCain and he asks his supporters to go towards John McCain, there is a real possibility that they could.
And I would also add that you know South Carolina was supposed to be tricky territory for John McCain and tonight he won. It was supposed to be hospitable territory for Mike Huckabee, you know Arkansas governor, his appeal to evangelicals and he lost. And you know in politics, second place just is not good enough.
COOPER: I want to bring John King in even though he is at the board -- John.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Over here where he belongs, as they say. Look here is the calculation Mike Huckabee is making right now. Part of it is that Thompson -- if Thompson gets out of the race and most of his speech tonight was in the past tense and he himself said and his aides have said the bar for him in South Carolina was winning or in the finals, as they said, a very competitive second, he is running way behind that bar.
So one would assume Senator Thompson is soon to leave the race, although in this year we shouldn't assume anything, but we do know he will meet with his people tomorrow. He does not have a public schedule at all campaigning in the days ahead, so the signs certainly appear that way, but let's wait what Senator Thompson says.
But Governor Huckabee's calculation right now is what everyone else's calculation is. No one in this race has been able to put together consecutive big wins and so you wait now to see if John McCain essentially can prove it. Can he consolidate support in the Republican Party and as everyone has been talking about, this is where we are going next to the state of Florida. It is a bigger state than anywhere we have been yet, bigger even than Michigan, more diverse.
A different Republican Party, the immigration issue will be back front and center again as well as the economy and the immigration issue has been with John McCain's Republican conservative base, his biggest weakness. So if you are watching this race, number one, your assumption is the field is going to shrink and Senator Thompson will be out soon.
And number two, you want to see if John McCain can prove himself in a big state and then from there, we go into what we all know about, that's Florida and we have a couple of big debates coming up including a debate with the Republicans out in California and then we have something we have never seen before.
And if the race is still muddled (INAUDIBLE) Senator McCain to Amy's point, there places for everybody to play here. If you want to pick a place to go, Mitt Romney has proven he can win out here in the west, a lot of Mormons out here west of the Mississippi. He has already proven it.
California will be the big bonanza on Super Tuesday. This is John McCain's home turf. This is Mike Huckabee south. This is where Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney have held public office, so if the race is still jumbled after Florida, there is every reason to believe people will cherry pick regions and see what happens.
The next big test is Florida. A man with a chance to shape it is Senator John McCain who we are going to hear from momentarily. He has now won a big win in South Carolina. The margin is small, but the meaning of it is big. We will see what he can do with it.
COOPER: And if you were Rudy Giuliani and you are sitting here tonight in Florida watching this, I mean he has now been beaten by Ron Paul I think three times that I can count. What is going through his mind?
BORGER: You know he has been living in a parallel universe, it seems during this campaign. Everybody else has been running, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Michigan and Rudy Giuliani has got a strategy that he is sticking to and he is going to win in Florida and then hopefully he says and then hopefully go on to win those big states on Super Tuesday that we are just pulsating and giving me an anxiety attack on John's chart.
I mean that's his strategy. And I think that you have to show up sometimes in order to win a presidential race. As I said the other night, you can't do kind of a drop by and say I'm going to win. And I think voters are looking at that and saying where has Rudy Giuliani been? However, having said that, I will tell you that the chaos in this field which was clarified a little bit tonight, but still chaotic does help him, however I think he would rather that somebody else won this tonight than John McCain.
BENNETT: I think he has to. I mean he has to go for the conservative base. This seems an odd thing to say about Giuliani, but he has to. He has to say look I know you don't agree with me on A, B, and C, but as George Will (ph) says, he quotes this all the time, "I govern more conservatively" and he has to suggest by innuendo that John McCain is not a true conservative because McCain is radical on five or six issues.
Huckabee does the same thing. McCain needs to do again what we were just talking about. You have got the Florida primary, then you've got the debate that you are moderating at the Reagan Library. This conservative state has said to John McCain fine, you are OK or at least you're good enough.
He now has to say something nice to conservatives like I agree with you guys almost all the time. You notice what he said about the border stuff after the immigration thing, which I thought knocked him out. I thought that put him out of the race. He said OK I got the message. I got the message. He has to say that about three or four more times to shore up that phase.
BORGER: He did that in South Carolina though.
BENNETT: Yes he did.
BORGER: And it worked.
BENNETT: He needs to keep saying it.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: And even among those who said immigration was one of their top issues, he still did well.
BENNETT: Yes, that's because people look at character and story and the whole mix. And again, this funny thing about McCain, there is no typical McCain voter. And you know at the end of the day people are romantic about who they want to be president.
There is a little bit of falling in love. There is a little bit of agilation (ph). You put those stories up. Carl was saying we've got several great stories. McCain's story is an unbelievable story and people like that and they admire that.
COOPER: And Amy Holmes, if the battle boils down to economy increasingly in some of these states can John McCain compete with Mitt Romney on that issue? In Michigan it didn't seem to go in his favor, but as you said he has recalibrated.
HOLMES: He has recalibrated, but he still has those votes against the Bush tax cut. Now he tries to explain that he wanted to lower government spending before voting for those things, but still I mean tax cuts, those are -- that is one of the core Republican conservative issues. Romney did very well on economic issues in Michigan, but then again you know looking forward to Florida and Giuliani's big challenge, part of the problem I think is that he really hasn't been attacked by any of his you know competitors so he hasn't really been able to hone his message and be able to you know pitch where he really fits in, in this field.
He has improved over the debates, but it may be that by not competing aggressively in these early states that he hasn't you know sort of -- how should I say -- he hasn't polished the diamond. He hasn't gotten all of the facets of his candidacy that would make him appealing to his Republican voters.
He has a lot of hurdles with the social issues and so forth. In the beginning I used to say well look Giuliani when he was mayor of New York had the right enemies and Republicans would remember that. That he was an effective mayor against you know an entrenched left wing system in New York, but all of that is forgotten because he's been so over shadowed by these other wins, these other candidates.
COOPER: Also as we're waiting now for John McCain to make his speech tonight, let's talk about what is coming up for the Democrats in South Carolina next Saturday. We're all going to be here talking about them. Carl Bernstein, first of all, John Edwards. I mean a really brutal...
CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I'm glad you brought that up. Because you know we're looking at Huey Long (ph), but with no supporters. How long can he keep this up and...
COOPER: A very bad showing in Nevada today and it wasn't for a lack of trying.
BERNSTEIN: And I think there is beginning to be real animosity within the party and among voters if he stays in this thing much longer. What we saw today and in Nevada, Hillary Clinton played Vegas and she played it pretty well. She did good at the Bellagio. She did good at the Mirage, but she's achieved a comfort zone after this near death experience.
She is now campaigning better than she has, knowing that she has a formidable opponent whom she never expected to have in this race. But now she, you know she got up there on the "Tyra Banks" (ph) show and talked very sympathetically for anybody who was watching about the whole Lewinsky experience.
She is at ease with herself in a way that certainly I haven't seen her since before she ran into trouble in Iowa. And also she is very strong on the issues right now. And that's going to be a big help for her and Obama has got to come up with a way to play the issues as well as his optimism and his desire to go beyond conventional politics here and say let's have this big tent, but he can't just do the Kumbaya (ph) number. He has got to do better than that.
HOLMES: Sure, but I would add to Carl's point. An Obama advisor e-mailing me tonight when I asked you know what happened in Nevada, that there is deep concern that Hillary -- that sort of this campaign that the Obama camp perceives against Obama in terms of false reports that he is Muslim, for example, and that all of this has cut into some Obama support. They feel that there is an under the radar campaign that has been hurting Obama, so it's not just that Hillary is getting better, but there is some fear that she has been using dirty tactics.
(CROSSTALK)
BRAZILE: Look, Hillary won because she had the strong support of the unions. I mean she had the support of the state and local municipal workers. She also had the support of the teacher's union. She won because she was able to get the Latino vote. And she won because she is still attracting women across the board. Unless Obama is able to cut into her support among women and go after you know down scale voters, voters who make less than $50,000, it's hard for Obama to win traditional Democratic votes.
John Edwards is running what we call in the Jackson '84 campaign -- that was before your time, Bill -- he is running a poor campaign with a rich message. He doesn't have the money of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, but he has a strong message that appeal to traditional Democratic voters. He is the populist. He's fighting for the middle class. I think John Edwards will take his campaign to Oklahoma and Georgia and other states.
COOPER: Let's go back to Wolf Blitzer now who is watching the McCain headquarters -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Interesting and fascinating discussion and this discussion only beginning -- remember we're still waiting to hear from John McCain. He is the winner of the South Carolina primary, the Republican primary. Momentarily we expect him to walk into that room and to speak.
I'm going to take a quick pause right now because we're going to be welcoming some other CNN networks that are going to be joining our coverage including our friends at CNN International. Let's pause.
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