MURRELLS INLET, S.C. (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Wednesday that he can't guarantee victory in Iraq, but that if he's elected he'll give the public a clear view of developments in the war during biweekly Oval Office addresses.

"Am I telling you we're going to succeed? No. But I'm telling you I think we've got a good chance of succeeding," McCain told about 450 people packed into a VFW post in this town south of Myrtle Beach.

The Arizona senator decried the idea of a timeline for U.S. withdrawal from the country, saying it would spawn chaos, and committed to a long-term fight on terrorism. "We're going to win. We will. We will never surrender," McCain said.

When asked by an audience member whether he'd do a better job than President Bush in communicating regularly with the public, McCain said he would give updates about the war on national television every two weeks, a map of Iraq at the ready.

"I would tell them exactly what the battlefield scenario is," he said.

Later in the day, McCain planned to stop at a VFW post in the Charleston suburb of Summerville.

McCain's return to South Carolina came as he fought a cold and took his Straight Talk Express bus for its first spin on the state's coastal highway since 2000. The bus was a hallmark of that campaign and part of McCain's appeal to voters.

But this time, analysts say McCain is perceived as more of a Washington insider than the maverick who went toe-to-toe with then-Texas Gov. George Bush.

"It's gone from the mighty steam engine to the little steam engine that could. He has really lost a lot of steam and he's got a lot of really skeptical voters," said Clemson University political scientist Dave Woodard. "He's not the same candidate and the situation is not the same."

McCain, who entered the race with endorsements from numerous elected and political leaders, is seeing some of that support softening in South Carolina. Saluda County Sheriff Jason Booth jumped to Romney's campaign on Wednesday, and other party officials have questioned the candidate skipping their county conventions.

McCain's campaign had no immediate comment on Booth's switch.

On Saturday, state Rep. Thad Viers of Myrtle Beach - one of the 40 Statehouse Republicans who endorsed McCain as his campaign launched earlier this year - wondered at a county GOP convention why McCain wasn't there, and left impressed with a talk by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

"He gave a great Reaganesque speech. I liked him so much I voted for him in the straw poll," Viers said.

McCain has been losing those popularity contests to Romney in big GOP counties. McCain's campaign says it doesn't value such polls and prefers to have the candidate speak to smaller crowds for longer amounts of time than offered during conventions.

Viers also criticized McCain's choice of paid political consultants and staff. He's put state Sen. Mike Fair of Greenville on his payroll as well as the son of a state representative from Greenville.

Viers said other people could do that work.

Viers said he would withdraw his support for McCain if the senator doesn't steer away from an immigration law compromise he's been developing with Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy.

McCain told the crowd he has no plans for blanket amnesty for illegal immigrants and said anyone in the U.S. illegally will face some type of punishment, such as paying fines or having to return to their own nations before trying to return to the U.S. with proper documentation.

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