Byron York went to the Charleston leg of Rudy's South Carolina trip Wednesday. He reports on the warm reception Rudy received, but also has some typical observations on the fact that the former mayor is behind the curve in the organizing department:

Are social issues less important, or will they come on strong in due time? No one will know the answer to that question for a while, but there are also more practical aspects that can determine the success of a presidential campaign. And in South Carolina, even at this very early point in the race, Giuliani appears to be substantially behind other Republican candidates.

There's no doubt Giuliani's visit to Charleston looked presidential. There was a lot of security, a lot of men in suits with earpieces. His entourage included staffers from Solutions America, Giuliani's political action committee, and from Giuliani's company, Giuliani Partners. (The group included Chris Henick, the former top aide to Karl Rove, who joined the firm in 2003.) But that's a traveling group. In terms of an organization on the ground in South Carolina, Giuliani doesn't really have one.

Compare that to his fellow front-running rival, Sen. John McCain. The news in South Carolina political circles in the last few weeks has been the number of prominent state politicos who have signed up with McCain. There's the attorney general, Henry McMaster, who was once thought to be closer to Giuliani than McCain. The two were U.S. attorneys together years ago, and Giuliani describes McMaster as a good friend, but on Wednesday McMaster told the South Carolina newspaper The State that, "I think Rudy would be a superb candidate, but my choice right now is for Sen. John McCain."

McCain has also locked up the former attorney general, Charlie Condon, as well as Bob McAlister, the former top aide to legendary governor Carroll Campbell. And of course, there's the current governor, Mark Sanford, who backed McCain in 2000 but can't jump on the bandwagon again until he wins re-election in November. (Sanford's wife Jenny came to the Giuliani fundraiser, explaining her husband couldn't make it.) And, finally, there's Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is so close to McCain that during a recent visit to Columbia, McCain absentmindedly referred to Graham as "Cindy" -- the name of McCain's wife.

No doubt this is all true (though Rudy nabbed a big fish himself Wednesday). But we'll see what happens after November '06. Rudy's public statements have all been to the effect that he won't announce or officially organize until after the midterms. Whether this is good strategy or not, I can't say.

Political reporters would give him more credit if he were doing the organizing now, but he's not playing to them. My sense is he's trying to stay above the fray for as long as possible. Might work; might end up having to play a lot of catch-up with Sen. Maverick.