White House race shifts to next battles

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - The U.S. presidential race shifted to new battlegrounds on Sunday, as Republican John McCain looked for momentum from a big win and top Democrats paid homage to slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

McCain flew to Florida, which holds the next Republican contest on January 29, and said his win over rival Mike Huckabee on Saturday in South Carolina would give him a boost toward the nomination for the November election.

"I think we are doing very well. I think Florida is very important. I don't know if it's a must-win, but it's certainly a very, very important race," the Arizona senator told reporters before leaving South Carolina.

Florida marks the re-emergence of Rudy Giuliani, whose once large lead in national polls disappeared as he sat out the early battles. The former New York mayor has staked his future on Florida, where polls show a tight race with McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

"We're ready for everybody to come down here, join us," Giuliani said on ABC's "This Week."

The Democratic presidential contenders turned their attention to South Carolina, where Saturday's primary will give Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama a new venue for their back-and-forth battle for the nomination after Clinton's weekend win in Nevada.

More than half of the voters in South Carolina's Democratic primary are expected to be black, and on the eve of a national holiday honouring King's birthday both candidates spoke at black churches.

At the civil rights leader's home Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Obama quoted King's belief that "unity is the great need of the hour" and said it was still needed today to overcome a deficit in America.