Voters to face snow in S.C.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Snow — possibly 3 inches of it in some parts of the state — could play havoc with turnout in today’s South Carolina Republican presidential primary, which means the race could come down to whose supporters are the most committed.

The candidates fanned out across the state yesterday to try to win over undecided voters, with the most furious battle erupting between Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee over Mr. Huckabee’s statement that he sees the Constitution as “a living, breathing document.”

“The last time I heard that was when Al Gore used that in the 2000 campaign,” Mr. Thompson told an audience in Spartanburg. In a follow-up statement, the former Tennessee senator said the “living, breathing” approach “is precisely the kind of wrong-headed thinking about the Constitution that gave us Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion across our nation, and Lawrence v. Texas, which decriminalized sodomy.”

Mr. Huckabee’s campaign manager shot back, saying the former Arkansas governor’s comments — which came in an interview yesterday with CNN — were only intended to bolster his argument for new amendments to the Constitution regarding pro-life and marriage causes.

As the first contest in the South, today’s primary is a good indicator of who can win the hearts of the Republican Party’s conservative base.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona leads in most polls here, and Mr. Huckabee is second, but Mr. Thompson is hoping to come across more conservative than the rest of the field and leapfrog the other candidates.

Nevada holds its Republican caucuses today, though that state has been far-less-contested than South Carolina. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney spent the most time there of any of the major candidates, and pundits said they expect him to come in first.

The Democratic primary in South Carolina takes place a week from today.

On the Republican side, after a series of one-on-one contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Michigan, South Carolina’s field is wide-open. Messrs. Romney, Thompson, McCain and Huckabee, as well as Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, have all spent time here this week campaigning. Even Rep. Duncan Hunter of California is running radio ads. Only former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani is ignoring the state, spending his time working for votes in the later, larger primaries.

The hot contest left some South Carolinians expecting a big turnout, but the predicted cold, snowy weather could change all that.

The snow is likely in the northwestern part of the state, and it was a topic on talk radio in that area yesterday. The rest of the state will see temperatures in the 40s but will endure a daylong drenching that also could keep some voters from the polls.

In addition to the Thompson-Huckabee fight, the big dividing line yesterday was over President Bush’s proposed economic stimulus package.

Mr. McCain had reservations, Mr. Thompson gave it mixed reviews, and Mr. Huckabee said Mr. Bush was on the right track.

Poor economic news plays into Mr. Huckabee’s pitch to voters, which at Wofford College yesterday included telling them that even with a college education, the economy might be so poor there might not be good jobs waiting for them. He said the president has a responsibility to help make sure there is a good economy to ensure good jobs.

“If your president can’t help make that happen, you need one who can,” he said.

Colleges and universities have been favorite spots on the campaign trail here this year, welcoming the campaigns with open arms.

That stands in contrast with many of the state’s churches, which were more leery, according to Bill Devlin, national president of Redeem the Vote, a nonprofit organization trying to get young evangelical voters involved.

“After four days of traveling to many cities in South Carolina, we were warmly welcomed by the likes of Clemson University, Southern Wesleyan, Columbia International University and North Greenville University. They had us in their student dining rooms, their student activity centers and their student life centers registering students in a nonpartisan way,” Mr. Devlin said.

“Where we received the cold shoulder was the local churches,” he said. “The pastors told us that there was so much hate fliers against particularly Mike Huckabee that they were afraid to have anyone even in their parking lots.”

Mr. Devlin said at one church deacons were stationed in the parking lot to keep “hate literature” from being distributed.

• Ralph Z. Hallow contributed to this article.