With no clear leader yet to emerge in the bid for their party's
nominations, US presidential contenders face key tests in South
Carolina and Nevada later Saturday as they scramble for their party's
presidential nomination.
Most of the focus will be on the centre-right Republicans in South
Carolina, the first southern state in the state-by-state battle for
delegates to the party's national convention in September in St Paul,
Minnesota.
Senator John McCain, 71, goes in as the South Carolina Republican
favourite with about 28 per cent support in pre-election polling,
followed by former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, 52, with about 20
per cent support and a strong appeal for southern and Christian voters.
The wealthy former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, 60, holds 13 to
17 per cent support in various polls.
Each of the three have won a primary prize - Huckabee took Iowa, McCain New Hampshire and Romney his native state of Michigan.
Democratic voters in South Carolina will chose their preferred
presidential candidate next Saturday, January 26, where the scramble
for the large black vote has been intense between Senators Hillary
Clinton, 60, and Barack Obama, 46.
Both Democrats and Republicans will caucus on Saturday in Nevada,
where the response of Hispanic voters will be closely watched. Polls
there show a tight race among Clinton, Obama and former senator John
Edwards, 54. Their percentages of support lie in the narrow range of 27
to 32 per cent.
Given the closeness of the races, the presidential hopefuls need
the single-state contests like South Carolina and Nevada to build
momentum going into the huge multi-state vote on February 5. Twenty-
three states will be holding presidential nominating contests on that
day.
In between is the Florida vote on January 29, where former New York
mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has lagged fifth and sixth in the contests so
far, is placing all his hopes and money.
The state contests elect delegates to the national conventions
later this year. Democrats are to gather in August in Denver, Colorado.
The presidential elections are November 4.
