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More pictures from the GOP debate

Snapped a few shots inside the debate while we were working that I planned to put up that night, but things were just too busy for us reporters. (That's why they have reporters and photographers and editors and copy editors and designers and so on and so forth to make the newspaper.) Check out the scenes from the filing center and the spin room.

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., spinning for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, shakes hands in the spin room.

More after the jump.

Winning the youth vote

Measured by voice volume alone, Mike Huckabee's strongest supporter in Myrtle Beach might have been the 5-year-old boy leaning over a guard rail at the corner of Oak and 21st Avenue.

"Huckabee!" yelled Noah Duncan at every passing car or debate attendee. "We like Mike!"

Huckabee was not the family's first choice, Noah confessed, despite his mother's best efforts to shush him. Dad used to like Mitt Romney.

"Yeah, but Dad jumped ship," the mom, Johnna, finally admitted, once the cat was out of the bag.

Noah's father, Seth Duncan of Columbia, said "faith and family" issues were what initially drew him to Romney, but that he soured on the candidate's changing positions and joined the Huckabee explosion.

"It got harder and harder to defend Romney's stances and former stances to my friends," Seth said.

Noah then turned around and resumed his cheering, but the complexities of the Republican nominating contest tripped him up.

"Mitt Romney!" Noah yelled at the next passing car.

"You have a Huckabee sign," his mother gently corrected.

"Oh, yeah," Noah said, giggling. "We like Mike!"

Romney, Paul supporters duel outside convention center

They may have been outnumbered, but that did not stop about a dozen Ron Paul supporters from hoisting an American flag and marching through a throng of Mitt Romney supporters outside the Myrtle Beach Convetion Center.

"Ron Paul! Ron Paul!" they shouted, just hours before the Republican presidential debate was slated to begin.

With a loudspeaker in hand, 19-year-old Matthew Blewitt, from Hartsville, S.C., countered the Paul supporters by yelling Romney slogans at motorists as they drove by.

"M-I-T-T! Mitt's the man for me!" he yelled. Some motorists honked. One woman driving by said she was a Republican but undecided, sparking another round of pro-Romney slogans from the crowd.

Blewitt, a college student, said he drove from Hartsville today after his classes were over. He said he supported Romney because he was able to eliminate Massachusetts' state deficit after one term.

Not far from Blewitt was Neil Martin, 65, who drove today from Spartanburg, S.C, with his wife, Carol. Martin said he and his wife were probably going to vote for a third-party candidate until Ron Paul entered the race.

"When all the candidates started breaking out, we were disappointed," he said. "It looked like we were the getting the same thing we get all the time."

Martin said he supported Paul because he thought he was fiscally responsible. He also said he liked that Paul was against "empire building" and would remove U.S. troops from Iraq.

Martin said he and his wife a few days in Myrtle Beach in a condo before going back to Spartanburg. He said he looked forward to going to some good seafood restaurants.

MB Debate to feature six Republicans

The state Republican party has just announced the lineup for tomorrow night's debate, The Sun News is reporting.

And, it's pretty much the candidates you expected: Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.

Here's the link to The Sun News' story: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/111/story/308330.html

Zeppelin campaign shows whole lotta love

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul might travel by plane, but some of his supporters opt for more unconventional means. Several of the candidate's supporters have been flying a 197-foot long blimp around the South with the message, ``Google Ron Paul'' written on the side.

The campaign issued an invitation to several other Democratic and Republican candidates to come out for a ride while the zeppelin is docked in Myrtle Beach for the debate.

Local caucus watches

The local branches of several presidential hopefuls will be watching the Iowa returns tonight-- some with baited breath, others with beer.

A few of the campaigns including those for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee will host events at restaurants and bars. Others will be having smaller get togethers at the homes of local supporters on an invite-only basis.

"I think a lot of people will be watching to figure out who will move on and who will be dropping out," said Barbara Leonard, a local organizer for the John McCain campaign. "There are going to be some little home get togethers, but nothing formal."

Two interesting Romney stories

The Sun News has a couple of interesting stories on former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney today.

The front pager is from David Lightman of McClatchy's Washington Bureau about what S.C. voters think of the Republican.

On the local front is a dispatch by Lorena Anderson about Romney's pit stop/rally on the Myrtle Beach airfield. He didn't take questions from the local press, but he was traveling with perhaps the biggest press corps so far. They all stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites Oceanfront in Myrtle Beach.

Romney's one special request was for skim milk in his room.

Romney in Myrtle Beach tonight

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor, will be in town tonight for a rally at the Myrtle Beach Aviation Center at the Myrtle Beach International Airport.

The rally will start at 7:45 p.m.

The Republican is also scheduled to make stops today in Spartanburg, West Columbia, Savannah, Ga., and North Charleston.

(By Kurt Knapek, posted by Lisa)

Local Republicans invite candidates to last-minute rally

Georgetown Republicans are inviting their party's candidates for President to come make a last-minute pitch before the state primary.

Invitations have just been issued, so candidates have yet to confirm, said Georgetown Republican Chairman Tom Swatzel. The Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney campaigns, however, have said their candidates will either appear in person or send a surrogate, Swatzel said.

The rally is set for Jan. 16, a critical point in the Republican nominating contest. Iowa and New Hampshire will have already had their primaries, the only two prior to South Carolina's officially sanctioned by the party. The day before the Georgetown event, Michigan will have had its unsanctioned primary, and the South Carolina primary is Jan. 19.

"Coming three days in advance of the all-important state Republican primary, this will certainly be a good opportunity for the campaigns to get the last word in with our active Republican voters," Swatzel said.

Candidates should have ample incentive to attend, Swatzel said. The Grand Strand has a large population of Republican voters, and candidates are likely to be in the state anyway, campaigning in the final days before the primary. He said he hopes the event will draw enough interest to be broadcast.

"I'd like to think the candidates will find this a good venue for getting their message out," Swatzel said.

What | Grand Strand Republicans' rally for Presidential candidates
When | 7 p.m. January 16
Where | Tara Ballroom, Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort, 14276 Highway 17, Pawley's Island
Tickets | $10 in advance
For more info | In Georgetown, Jim Jerow, (843) 237-9456. In Horry, Bill Blankenship, (843) 421-7324

Local pol making noise for candidate

The war has hit home.

Rudy Giuliani's campaign has enlisted Myrtle Beach City Councilman Randal Wallace to fire a few shots at the former New York mayor's chief antagonist, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.

Pundits and journalists who predicted that the two Republicans would be at each others throats during Wednesday night's debate in St. Petersburg were not disappointed.

Wallace will hold a press conference today to send a message about what the Giuliani campaign calls "the Romney reality." It's the first time during this presidential cycle that the candidates have held a press conference with Grand Strand supporters specifically to transmit a national campaign message to the press.

But it probably won't be the last.

"As we get closer in, within 30 days [of the primary], I think you'll see a lot more of it," said B.J. Boling, S.C. communications director for candidate and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Wallace will be at the Express Mart at 2620 U.S. 17 in Myrtle Beach at noon.