With presidential candidates crisscrossing South Carolina in anticipation of the 2004 Democratic primary, it's hard to imagine the state wouldn't hold one.

But until recently, the prospect that the state party couldn't afford a primary -- which typically costs hundreds of thousands of dollars -- was a very real fear in Democratic circles.

"I would have bet anyone a whole bunch of money that we wouldn't have pulled it off," said Don Fowler, chairman of the Richland County Democratic Party.

Democrats have looked to South Carolina's first-in-the-South presidential primary, scheduled for Feb. 3, as a way to rebuild a battered party that has been reeling in recent years.

After the Democrats lost the governor's office and a bruising U.S. Senate battle in November, the state party found itself saddled with a $70,000 debt.

The Democrats now are about $30,000 in the black, party chairman Joe Erwin said, with about $55,000 in pledges expected to flow in later this summer.

"I am totally confident we're going to get it done," Erwin said of the primary. "Five months ago, I didn't know."

Fowler now also predicts a successful primary -- the first the party has held since 1992, when 114,000 voters went to the polls.

With their early primary, coming closely on the heels of traditional early-bird states Iowa and New Hampshire, S.C. Democrats hope to capture a spark similar to the one enjoyed by Republicans in 2000.

That year, the nation watched Texas Gov. George W. Bush and U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona slug it out in South Carolina's GOP primary, which drew a record turnout with more than 500,000 voters. S.C. Democrats were largely ignored when they held sparsely attended caucuses.

The party's financial picture should improve more, Erwin said, after new state officers come on board later this month and take on more fund-raising projects.

The officers include finance director Brandi Roberts, who worked on Democrat Alex Sanders' U.S. Senate campaign, which raised more than $4 million in 2002. Former party chairman Dick Harpootlian also has signed on to help with fund raising.

Erwin, who was elected in May to succeed Harpootlian, said the party wants to raise $500,000 by the end of the year to make sure there is enough money to pay for printing ballots and the many other costs of the day.

That's about what the chairman of the S.C. Republican Party, which paid for South Carolina's last presidential primary in 2000, said he would set aside if the GOP had to organize a primary next year.

Katon Dawson, S.C. Republican Party chairman, suggested a "baseline of $400,000, assuming that poll workers are volunteers." Dawson also suggested contingency money for legal fees.

Democrats sued the Republican Party just before the 2000 GOP presidential primary. They alleged Republicans planned to close polling places in predominantly black precincts in an effort to cut down on crossover voting by Democrats. The suit was settled when the GOP promised to do all it could to open all the polls.

The GOP's legal bills exceeded $100,000. Erwin said he's budgeting for the possibility of a lawsuit.

And like the Republicans, the Democrats are looking for volunteers to decrease their payroll. A recruitment effort in May -- thousands of Democrats on voting rolls were called by automatic dialing machines -- yielded 1,300 volunteers, Erwin said, and the party now can count on 2,000 people.

Democrats also are hoping to line up polling places that won't require rent.

The party erased its debt after raising about $200,000 through its annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner May 2. It was held in conjunction with the state party convention, which featured the first nationally televised debate among all eight Democratic presidential candidates.

The party brought in another $55,000 in pledges this month, using telephone solicitation.

Erwin said he is also heartened by former Gov. Jim Hodges' offer to help raise much-needed cash.

So, just how did the Democrats fall into a financial hole in the first place?

Party officials, current and former, said it was the tough, expensive 2002 elections, in particular the competitive races at the top of the ticket.

Incumbent Hodges was ousted by Mark Sanford. Sanders lost to then-U.S. Rep Lindsey Graham.

Republicans often outspent Democrats in those campaigns. Graham, for example, spent more than $6 million to Sanders' $4.2 million.

"You either make a commitment of putting all you have into it or not," said Joanie Lawson, the former executive director of the S.C. Democratic Party, now state director for Bob Graham's presidential campaign.

"We were borrowing in the end," Erwin said.

South Carolina is one of only a handful of states nationwide in which the political parties, not the taxpayers, pick up the tab for primaries.

The Democratic National Committee has made it clear it won't pitch in if S.C. Democrats fall short in the money they need.