john mccain is not only a veteran but a nationally-famous war hero. he was pretty much guaranteed to win in that state because of those things. but in context, because mccain had just upset bush in new hampshire, well, then if he goes on to win a second big state after that, that would have been a huge deal in terms of the momentum in the race, changing the narrative, upending expectations, the bush campaign absolutely knew that, so they went into win at all costs mode. in south carolina. that