A fractured and disorientated Republican party turned yesterday to South Carolina — a state notorious for dirty campaigning — seeking clear direction in the zigzag course that it has taken in the presidential race.

Mitt Romney’s victory in the Michigan primary on Tuesday means that Republicans, searching for a credible candidate to lead them into a difficult fight for the White House against Democrats this autumn, have picked three winners — with three divergent agendas — from three meaningful nomination contests this month.

All of them were campaigning in South Carolina yesterday before this weekend’s potentially pivotal primary election, the winner of which has, since 1980, gone on to become the Republican presidential nominee.

Mr McCain had hoped to build on his independent-propelled momentum out of New Hampshire but, after losing Michigan, he now needs a win on Saturday in the “first in the South” Palmetto primary where his previous presidential run came off the tracks.

He has set up a South Carolina “Truth Squad” of hardened Southern political operatives to tackle negative attacks of the sort that derailed him in 2000, when, in a vicious battle with George Bush, he was smeared with false claims about fathering an illegitimate child with a black woman and committing treason.

The Truth Squad has already swung into action twice in the past 24 hours to defend a candidate whose strength is based on his national security credentials and a reputation as a Vietnam war hero. One of the team, a fellow former PoW called Orson Swindle, condemned a “despicable” leaflet distributed to 100 local journalists from a group called “Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain” which alleges that he collaborated with the communist enemy 40 years ago.

Another Truth Squad member, the South Carolina Attorney-General Henry McMaster, told The Times: “We saw the same kind of cowardly attacks eight years ago and they were an embarrassment to our state. We’re here to defend the Senator whenever things get nasty.”

Yesterday Mr McCain held three rallies across South Carolina, after telling supporters on Tuesday night: “For a minute there in New Hampshire I thought this campaign might be getting easier. But you know what? We’ve gotten pretty good at doing things the hard way, too. I think we’ve shown them we don’t mind a fight.”

His pitch is often aimed at the many military families and veterans who live in the state. But his failure in Michigan reopens doubts about whether he can win in contests where independent voters do not turn out in the same numbers as they did in New Hampshire. Yesterday he was boosted by the endorsement of Senator Tom Coburn, a strong voice for fiscal prudence, who may help him to counter the economic message being delivered by a resurgent Mr Romney.

The former Massachusetts Governor arrived in South Carolina yesterday for a four-stop tour emphasising how he had picked up more votes — especially from the Republican base — and delegates than any other candidate in the race so far. In television interviews Mr Romney invoked the name of Ronald Reagan, claiming that he shared the same “smile and optimism” of the former President who built the Republican coalition that has dominated US politics for 28 years.

Kevin Madden, Mr Romney’s spokesman, suggested that he was a candidate who could hold “appeal to the entire spectrum” of a fragmented party comprised of national security hawks, business interests and social conservatives. But, in a sign that he is looking more towards the delegate convention this summer than winning South Carolina, Mr Romney will fly today to Nevada, whose Republican caucuses on Saturday have been almost entirely overlooked.

Mike Huckabee, who has vied for top spot with Mr McCain in recent South Carolina polls, won Iowa with overwhelming backing from Evangelical Christian voters. But in Michigan he saw many of this same constituency head into Mr Romney’s camp, and in South Carolina — where more than half the vote will be from the Religious Right — he is being challenged by fellow Southerner Fred Thompson.

Mr Thompson is predicting that it is his turn to win, saying: “Everyone gets to be hero of the day”. The former Tennessee senator, who scarcely featured in New Hampshire and Michigan, added: “Different people are winning these different major contests. No one has settled in on anyone.” He has painted Mr Huckabee as a “liberal” on some social issues, a charge dismissed by the former Arkansas Governor as ludicrous.

Mr Huckabee says the Republican race “could go on for a while” before the party settles on a candidate. He has sought to strengthen his appeal beyond Evangelicals by adopting a populist economic platform and, more recently, a hardline stance on illegal immigration, which has emerged as a key issue for many Republican voters.

Today he is campaigning with Chuck Norris, the martial arts expert and TV action star, as well as Ric Flair, a 16-time WWE wrestling champion. Yesterday he dismissed claims from Mr McCain’s Truth Squad that he had engaged in “push-polling” techniques.

Waiting in the wings and hoping to capitalise on all the confusion is Rudy Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York, who led national polls for much of last year. He has abandoned the early contests to focus on the big states, beginning with Florida on January 29, where he launched another TV advertising blitz yesterday.

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