No candidate is an island. No candidate can run alone.

Organization is how John Kerry pulled off his Iowa win Monday night.

Paid staff. Volunteers. Campaign offices dotting the state. Candidates need organizations to translate their political resumes and personal skills into votes.

As they relied on them in Iowa, they will depend on them Tuesday in New Hampshire’s primary — and in South Carolina’s on Feb. 3.

“Organizations are probably the most important thing,” said former U.S. Rep. Butler Derrick, D-S.C. “The Democratic primary is about getting out the vote and that’s what organizations do. The best contact is one-on-one, candidate to voter.

“But if you can’t get that, it has to be the candidates’ representatives and the voter.”

But organization is just what Kerry lacks in South Carolina, a state whose first-in-the-South Democratic primary could clinch the race for the presidential nomination. Kerry, who weakened his South Carolina campaign to strengthen his forces in Iowa, already has begun rebuilding here.

The two staff members the Kerry campaign sent to the caucuses are already on their way back, and the campaign is signing up as many volunteers as they can to supplement the 321 South Carolinians already fanning out across the state for the Massachusetts senator.

But other candidates — Wesley Clark, John Edwards and Howard Dean in particular — can boast more volunteers, more staff, and more endorsements here than Kerry.

The Dean campaign, for example, counts 50 paid staff in South Carolina. The Edwards camp opened four South Carolina offices. And Clark’s organization boasts 2,000 volunteers here.

Joe Lieberman, slipping in the polls and low on funds, is hoping his relatively strong South Carolina organization will deliver him a respectable showing on Feb. 3.

The other two Democrats running for president, Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich, appear to have less formidable South Carolina campaign organizations.

Organizations speak volumes about a candidate, said Clark spokesman Meighan Stone.

“South Carolinians are starting to have friends tell them about Wes Clark. They have friends giving them literature. They are noticing lawn signs and letters and calls from other South Carolinians,” Stone said. “The organization we have demonstrates Clark’s strength as a candidate. It will be pivotal for him.”

The Kerry campaign says it will catch up to its rivals. Until then, Kerry spokesman David DiMartino is emphasizing the campaign’s spirit and smarts.

“It’s lean and mean,” said DiMartino. “We knew what we had to do to do well in Iowa to do that. We know what we have to do to do well in South Carolina and we will do that. We will be aggressive on the air and on the ground.”

But aggressive in South Carolina means organization — much more so than it would in, say, New York. That’s because the state embraces retail politics.

While those running for office are not expected to shake hands with all 4.1 million South Carolinians, they are expected to be seen meeting as many voters as possible on their own turf — at diners, churches and county fairs.

In larger states such as California and Texas, voters don’t expect to see the candidates anywhere but on television. In South Carolina, organizations bring the candidates directly to the voter.

“That’s also true in New Hampshire,” said USC political science professor Brad Gomez. “I like to tell my class the story of the lady in New Hampshire who in 1988 was asked what she thinks about (Republican presidential candidate) Lamar Alexander.

“‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I’ve only met him three times.’”

But Gomez also warns against overestimating the importance of organization.

Dick Gephardt fielded a strong organization in Iowa, one with roots growing back to his 1988 triumph in that state’s presidential caucuses. But this year Gephardt came in fourth, ending his quest for the White House.

And Dean’s organizational strength in Iowa couldn’t vault him past third place.

“Those organizations got trumped this week by Kerry’s willingness to spend a great deal of money on media buys,” said Gomez.

In other words, Kerry plastered his face on television screens across the Iowa plains, and it worked.

In South Carolina too, Gomez said, “broadcast politics is required.”

Here is how the Democratic presidential campaigns shape up in South Carolina:

WESLEY CLARK

• Volunteers — 2,000

• Paid staff — 40

• Offices — Columbia, Orangeburg, Charleston, Greenville, Florence

• Endorsements — More than 40

HOWARD DEAN

• Volunteers — More than 350

• Paid staff — More than 50

• Offices — Columbia (2), Charleston, Greenville, Orangeburg, Florence

• Endorsements — 25

JOHN EDWARDS

• Volunteers — 400

• Paid staff — 9

• Offices — Columbia, North Charleston, Greenville, Florence

• Endorsements — More than 75

JOHN KERRY

• Volunteers — 321

• Paid staff — 7

• Offices — Columbia, Charleston

• Endorsements — More than 30

DENNIS KUCINICH

• Volunteers — 210

• Paid staff — None

• Offices — Columbia

• Endorsements — About 10

JOE LIEBERMAN

• Volunteers — 500

• Paid staff — 8

• Offices — Columbia, Charleston, Greenville

• Endorsements — About 60

AL SHARPTON

• Volunteers — About 200

• Paid staff — 4

• Offices — Columbia, Spartanburg, Florence (2)

• Endorsements — Campaign could not provide

Reach Markoe at (202) 383-6023 or lmarkoe@krwashington.com