(CNSNews.com) - Following Sen. John McCain's victory in the New Hampshire primary, the South Carolina primary looms as the next major electoral battle. And two Republican presidential hopefuls, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee -- southerners both -- may face a tougher challenge in S.C. than conventional wisdom suggests.

In an interview with Cybercast News Service, Mike DeVine, a former state Democratic Party official in South Carolina and a columnist for The Charlotte Observer, noted that the Republican Party there is markedly different from that in Iowa.

"The GOP in South Carolina that I lost to a lot [over 20 years] is [comprised of] mainstream conservatives," he said. "They're Reagan conservatives. ... This includes evangelicals -- they're mostly Southern Baptists. A lot of military [there] too -- much different from Iowa."

"I don't think that Huckabee will do nearly as well" in South Carolina as he did in Iowa, said DeVine. "Some of his views are simply anathema to the conservative philosophy of the state. He's shown some weaknesses. The people aren't going to just vote for him because he's a Baptist. They won't be nearly as receptive to identity politics."

Peter Beinart, editor of The New Republic magazine, echoed that view in a recent piece, saying, "Historically, the 'peace churches' - Quakers, Mennonites, and the Church of the Brethren - have thrived in the state. Few states receive as few defense dollars as Iowa, and few have as great a skepticism toward military force."

In contrast, Jim Geraghty, campaign blogger for the National Review Online, noted, "South Carolina brims with military institutions and traditions."

"The state is the home of the Citadel, Charleston Air Force Base, U.S. Army Fort Jackson in Columbia, the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort ... Altogether the state is home to about 38,000 active duty and about 26,000 Reserve and National Guard members. This isn't counting the state's numerous military retirees," Geraghty added.

While McCain has the backing of over 100 retired generals and admirals from the armed services, Thompson has made a strong play for the South Carolina military community by announcing his plan to rebuild America's military at the Citadel.

Huckabee's recent article in Foreign Affairs magazine purporting that the Bush administration's foreign policy was rooted in an "arrogant bunker mentality" has been used by candidates as a line of attack in debates. In that same article, however, Huckabee expressed support for expanding defense spending from 3.9 percent of GDP to 6 percent.

The Iowan evangelical conservatives, according to Geraghty, "have a history of falling hard for the candidate who wears his religion on his sleeve the most" and tend to rally around their own when they are under attack."

By contrast, "The South Carolina Christian conservative population is not nearly as monolithically united, however, allowing an opportunity for Thompson's appeal," Geraghty said.

Huckabee's rise in the polls, DeVine said, was due to strong debate performances and to coming in at the right time in respect to his opposition.

"Rudy [Giuliani] and John McCain basically didn't go to Iowa and ask for their votes," said DeVine. "Mitt Romney was there almost too long. Heck, it's almost like he's been there long enough to be president. Then you had Fred coming in late," De Vine added.

Geraghty added that "populism," which Huckabee has modeled his campaign on, "has not played a dominant theme in a South Carolina Republican presidential primary in recent memory. If there has been any clear-cut economic theme in South Carolina politics, it has been state's steady support for low taxes."

While Huckabee supports the establishment of the FairTax, a national consumption tax in place of the personal income tax and Thompson favors an optional Flat Tax option for personal income, the largest issue dogging Huckabee's campaign has been his support for tax increases during his terms as Arkansas governor.

In addition, Huckabee also faces opposition from, ironically, some top Baptist leaders. On Dec. 20, Robert Novak reported that high-ranking Southern Baptist luminaries were not endorsing Huckabee, believed that he opposed the conservative reformation within their church during the late-1970s and were instead supporting Thompson.

Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission in the Southern Baptist Convention, does not endorse candidates as a matter of policy, but he has called Thompson "Southern Fried Reagan."

Judge Paul Pressler, one of the leaders of the Southern Baptist reformation, has endorsed Thompson. Concerning Huckabee, Pressler told the Wall Street Journal's John Fund, "I know of no conservative [that] he appointed while he headed the Arkansas Baptist Convention."

Novak further reported that Rick Scarborough, founder of Vision America, an organization aimed at politically informing and mobilizing pastors, clashed with Gov. Huckabee during the late 1970s.

"Scarborough was badly defeated for president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas," wrote Novak, "while Huckabee embraced the liberal church establishment to become president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention."

Scarborough has since endorsed Huckabee but said that he "is not the perfect candidate."

DeVine noted that if the information about Huckabee's clashes with the Baptist Convention were widespread, it could hurt Huckabee's chances in South Carolina.

While DeVine conceded that anything could happen - even higher returns for John McCain following his win in New Hampshire - he concluded that "Fred Thompson's positions on issues and his demeanor would appeal to conservatives in South Carolina."

Regarding the upcoming primary, DeVine said, "South Carolina usually picks the winner. They have every time since 1980."

Thompson tumbles?

Holly Gatling, executive director of South Carolina Citizens for Life (SCCL), told Cybercast News Service that her state's voters were looking for a strong, consistent conservative supporter of life who could also win in the primary and general election.

Calling former New York City Mayor Giuliani "militantly pro-choice," she said that only Thompson fit the bill at the time when National Right to Life endorsed Thompson. The SCCL, a state subsidiary of National Right to Life, also endorsed Thompson in December.

While apparently regarded well by pro-lifers in South Carolina, Thompson still faces difficulties from the press, public opinion, and his own financial situation going into the Jan. 19 primary in South Carolina.

On Monday, talk radio host Rush Limbaugh said Thompson was a "real conservative" but also noted that Thompson is a "depth guy" and has trouble reducing his message to easily understood sound bytes.

The senator has also been accused by some national pundits and reporters of being a "lazy campaigner" who has little love for the process of running for office.

Further, said DeVine, Thompson "doesn't go out of his way to make waves of the kind that the media like to print. I think that some of the members of the media are upset that he refuses to play their game," he added.

Local press has also voiced opposition to Thompson's campaign. Brad Warthen, opinion page editor of the largest newspaper in South Carolina, The State, called upon Thompson to end his campaign. "It's time for him to do the principled thing," said Warthen.

"He should bow out, and support McCain. And he should do it now; now is when he can make a difference," Warthen added.

Thompson also faces difficulties in a state that is his political backyard. An overnight Insider Advantage survey conducted on Jan. 7 showed that Thompson came in fourth place in South Carolina behind Huckabee, McCain and Romney.

Financial difficulties are present as well. On Jan. 4, in advance of a bus tour through South Carolina similar to the effort that he unleashed in Iowa, the Thompson campaign e-mailed supporters, asking for $540,000 by Jan. 11 to purchase air-time in South Carolina.

On the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 9, Thompson's campaign website, Fred08.com, reported that approximately $365,000 had been raised.

After Christmas, in the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, they also asked for nearly $250,000 to run a closing-argument commercial entitled "Substance." The Thompson campaign admitted in an e-mail that "the resources that we invested [in Iowa] were well spent, but have left the cupboard a little bare."

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