McCain Bounce from New Hampshire? UPDATED

Rasmussen just published the results of a poll taken yesterday of likely primary voters in South Carolina. And while I normally wouldn't root for John McCain, I will if he pushes Mike Huckabee out of the top spot!

Arizona Senator John McCain, fresh from his victory in New Hampshire, has taken a narrow three-point lead over former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in the South Carolina Republican Presidential Primary. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows McCain at 27% and Huckabee at 24%.

That’s a significant change since last Sunday. Just before the New Hampshire vote, Huckabee was leading McCain 28% to 21%. In mid-December, Huckabee and Romney were tied for the lead with 23% of the vote while McCain was well off the pace at 12%.

As I wrote last week, it turns out that McCain really isn't the worst candidate that we could nominate. In November I never would have believed it.

Mitt Romney, who I've come to like more and more over the past month, is still in third at 16%. That's unchanged since before New Hampshire. Fred Thompson is in fourth at 12%, but take heart, Fredheads. Your guy has the most solid support.

The Republican South Carolina primary is just nine days away.

UPDATE: Even better numbers are now available from the latest Fox News/ Opinion Dynamics poll (PDF). It's McCain 25% to Huckabee's 18%. Romney is only a point behind. The margin of error is plus or minus 4%.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 01:06 PM

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