COLUMBIA -- It was supposed to be a race too close to call, but before polls closed Saturday in South Carolina's crucial Republican primary, Texas Gov. George W. Bush was declared a decisive winner with a probable 3-1 victory, based on exit polls.And without a single vote yet counted, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona was conceding South Carolina in North Charleston and was packing his bags for a 9 p.m. flight to Michigan, which has its GOP primary Tuesday. That state has 58 voting delegates to the Republican National Convention. South Carolina has just 37, although its voters have never failed to select the primary candidates who eventually became the party's presidential nominee.

AIKEN -- In a surprise move Monday, Aiken County Republican Party Chairwoman Diane Giddings said she won't be running for a second two-year term when the party holds its convention Saturday.

...Gary Bunker. "Aiken County is one of the top half a dozen counties in primary strength," Mr. Bunker said. In the 1996 primary, Mr. Buchanan lost the county by just 9 percentage points. He took a majority in Horse Creek Valley and split the...

...place in the world to live, and I've raised three good, Christian children here," she said. Three candidates in the 1996 primary are in prison for their roles in buying votes. Suspended County Commissioner J. Don McCranie, former Sheriff Jackson...

...their campaign signs up! Even some from a perennial Aiken County sheriff candidate for 1992 are still up, along with the 1996 primary. It seems that the winning candidates are more prompt about removing this visual litter. Come on, you people...

COLUMBIA -- It was supposed to be a race too close to call, but before polls closed Saturday in South Carolina's crucial Republican primary, Texas Gov. George W. Bush was declared a decisive winner, based on exit polls.And without a single vote yet counted, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona was conceding South Carolina in North Charleston and was packing his bags for a 9 p.m. flight to Michigan, which has its GOP primary Tuesday. That state has 58 voting delegates to the Republican National Convention. South Carolina had just 37, although its voters have never failed to select the primary candidates who eventually became the party's presidential nominee.

COLUMBIA -- It was supposed to be a race too close to call, but before polls closed Saturday in South Carolina's crucial Republican primary, Texas Gov. George W. Bush was declared a decisive winner, based on exit polls.

...absentee ballots in Aiken County, and 14,400 voted in precincts. Allendale County had only four absentee ballots in the 1996 primary. This time, they have collected 58, said Dorothy Willis, who runs the voter registration office. Edgefield County...

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Steve Forbes will declare his presidential candidacy Tuesday on the Internet, promising to wage an "information-age campaign about great ideas and enduring values." In an address produced for transmission on his Internet site, Forbes says, "You and I are entering the information age and Washington politicians are stuck in the Stone Age." He outlines his Republican agenda to abolish the tax code, protect Social Security and curb abortions.

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis needs a big win to be a credible U.S. Senate contender, while GOP challenger Stephen Brown needs low voter turnout to survive, political analysts said Monday on the eve of South Carolina's primary elections. Each wants to face Democrat U.S. Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, who will seek his sixth full term this fall. The Inglis-Brown race will be one of the lead contests in Tuesday's Republican and Democratic primaries.