Can South Carolina Crown McCain's Campaign?

Jan. 19, 2008 — -- A win in South Carolina today for John McCain could catapult his campaign to the front of the Republican pack.

"I think it's very important. Obviously every person who's won the South Carolina primary for I don't know how many years, has been the nominee of the [Republican] Party," the Arizona senator told ABC News' Ron Claiborne Friday.

With the polls now open, McCain is hoping his military credentials and fiscal conservatism will carry him to the lead.

"I have gotten more involvement in every national-security challenge for the last 20 years. I believe that I am more qualified to be commander in chief," he said.

In his final push for votes, the Vietnam vet has spent the week touting his early support for the troop surge in Iraq, in a state that's home to an estimated 400,000 veterans.

At a campaign event near Columbus, he read the crowd a headline from a newspaper as proof that the surge he backed had worked. "'Figures Show Dramatic Gains Since U.S. Build-Up," he read, to the applause of his audience.

McCain has complained that he's again been the target of some nasty negative campaigning. One mailer — from "Vietnam Veterans Against McCain" — accuses him of collaborating with the enemy as a prisoner of war.

In his first fight for South Carolina, which McCain lost to George Bush in the 2000 primary, he faced a massive smear campaign that ultimately sank his presidential bid.

McCain says that this year the dirty campaign tricks are back, but not as bad.

"Yeah, we're seeing some of that, in the phone calls, and some of the stuff, fliers that are going around. But this time we have a strong political and financial base to try to respond to a lot of that," McCain told Claiborne.

Economic worries have risen to the top of voter issues, but McCain stops short of saying the United States is headed for a recession.

"I think we're in for some tough times here. I don't think there's any doubt about that. It depends on what we do. If we will stop the excess spending, make the tax cuts permanent, um, make sure that we have a stable and, a fiscal situation that Americans can depend on. I think that our economy can recover."