Democrats scatter across nation

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Instead, there was silence.

Not one of the candidates was within several hundred miles of South Carolina.

But President Bush, the target of Democratic attacks throughout the primary campaign, will make the seventh trip of his presidency to South Carolina on Thursday, just two days after the Democrats fold their tent. He is scheduled to appear in Charleston, the White House said, but released no details.

With the exception of North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, a Palmetto State native, five of the other six surviving contenders were hopscotching Tuesday's other six primary states, seeking a victory to keep their campaigns alive.

"After (former Vermont Gov. Howard) Dean collapsed and (Missouri Rep. Dick) Gephardt dropped out, it undermined the primacy of the South Carolina primary," said Earl Black, an expert on Southern politics at Rice University.

Blame Missouri

With Gephardt out Jan. 20 after a poor showing in Iowa the day before, his home state — the biggest delegate prize among the Feb. 3 states — was unexpectedly back in play, Black said.

But Dean's collapse in Iowa and New Hampshire, after being the front-runner for months, combined with Kerry's surge almost everywhere, made it imperative for the rest of the field to find someplace they can win to stay alive, Black said.

South Carolina, Edwards' home away from home, was largely left to him, he said.

Joe Erwin of Greenville, the state Democratic Party's chairman, said there was no disappointment.

"We all get it down here. This is three-dimensional chess now with seven states in play Tuesday," he said. "South Carolina has gotten, and is getting, great attention from all the campaigns, with advertising, a national debate in Greenville, a forum in Columbia on Friday,"

Erwin said that through Friday, the candidates "invested wonderfully in our process, more than any other Feb. 3 state. We sucked up their time in a positive way for two straight days last week when they just had a week to prepare for seven primaries."

Edwards appeared to be within striking distance of a solid lead in South Carolina over the national front-runner, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.

A Zogby Research poll conducted Friday and released Saturday showed Edwards had moved to 26 percent, up one point, and Kerry had dropped two points to 22 percent. The four-point spread equaled the poll's margin of error.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean was third at 9 percent. Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark had 8 percent, civil rights activist Al Sharpton 6 percent, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman 4 percent and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio less than 1 percent. But with Kerry, Edwards and Clark pouring it on in television ads and with 22 percent undecided, according to Zogby, little is certain.

State Sen. John Land III of Manning, an Edwards booster, said, "I'm not saying anything (Edwards) hasn't said, but he feels he has to win here to be viable. It's crucial to Edwards. It's not that important to others."

Land said the remaining candidates "are trying to hit the states where they think they can make the most difference."

His instincts tell him Edwards is ahead "but Kerry's coming up fast."

Kerry shoring up

For Kerry, the weekend was more a case of shoring up his leads elsewhere.

Edwards is scheduled to return Saturday night and campaign today in Columbia, Florence, Georgetown and Charleston. Monday, he will travel by bus for a welcome home rally in Seneca, his birthplace.

Kerry, who campaigned only minimally in South Carolina, left Friday and will not return but will be seen via a heavy television advertising buy.

Dean, now trailing badly in the polls, is not expected back. Lieberman's schedule shows no South Carolina trips, and spokesmen for Clark said the schedule through Tuesday was incomplete. Erwin said he expected Clark to return before Tuesday.

The campaigns of the two long-shot candidates, Kucinich and Sharpton, could not be reached for comment.

Dean's chief executive officer, Roy Neel, said in Burlington, Vt., that the campaign's goals reach beyond Tuesday's round of primaries, even though Dean appears unlikely to emerge with a victory anywhere that day.

"When conventional wisdom says a candidate must win somewhere on February 3 or that John Kerry will have wrapped up the nomination after fewer than 10 percent of the delegates have been chosen, we disagree.

Neel said the campaign's "goal for the next 2½ weeks is simple — become the last standing alternative to John Kerry after the Wisconsin primary Feb. 17."

For month, as many as nine Democratic candidates have bashed Bush from one end of South Carolina to the other over the economy, health care and the war in Iraq.

Presidential timing

The nature of Bush's visit hasn't been announced, but the timing suggested he was set to take the South Carolina stage back from the Democrats.

The White House had no comment other than to confirm a trip to Charleston on Thursday.

One possibility could be the port. Kerry has strongly criticized the administration for not taking adequate security precautions at America's ports, particularly with thousands of truck-size containers, few of which are actually physically inspected.

Katon Dawson, state GOP chairman, said he expected a policy statement. No campaign events or fund raising will be involved, he said.

Dawson said there is no particular significance to the timing.

"The president is welcome in South Carolina any time. It's certainly Bush country," he said. "Whether he's coming to answer any of the accusations, I don't know, but I don't believe he is."

"Interesting, isn't it?" Erwin said. "The president looks to be shadowing our candidates just about everywhere they go, and for him to come in two days after our primary, clearly there's a political angle in it."

Behind the scenes

The candidates may be gone today, but signs of the campaign abound in Columbia.

With Clark and Kerry headquarters on the ninth and 10th floors of 1200 Main across from the Statehouse, the cars of volunteers and staffers, who have been pouring into Columbia since New Hampshire, took up most of the on-street parking for a couple of square blocks.

Aside from the bumper stickers and license plates from Texas, Virginia, New York and Massachusetts, the cars would be a giveaway, having brought a little bit of New Hampshire with them in the form of coats of salt, sand and grime of New England winter storms. At the high-traffic intersection of Gervais and Main streets, clusters of volunteers represented a microcosm of what the campaign has evolved into in its final weekend.

Separate groups of Kerry, Clark and Dean supporters waved placards and engaged in friendly shouting matches.

"Real deal," the Kerry crowd chanted, repeating the campaign slogan. When "Honk for Clark" signs elicited horn-blowing, the general's troops responded with cheers. Dean's people yelled the less imaginative "Dean, Dean."

In boiler rooms in Columbia and around the state, volunteers manned telephones, reminding identified supporters to vote and cajoling the undecided.

Dan Hoover covers politics and can be reached at 298-4883.