We are live from outside the Koger Center on the USC campus in downtown Columbia for tonight’s “First-in-the-South” GOP debate. So stay with us for the next few hours and after the debate as we bring you pictures and live-blog coverage from the pre-and-post events.

VIEW FROM STAGE RIGHT

11:01 - we just got out and wanted to offer a few simple post debate thoughts. Don’t worry, we’ll have more later. For now, here’s a rundown on each candidate, by stage position, from left to right.
McCain looked strong, and was by far the best of the frontrunners.
Giuliani was crushed on abortion and immigration. This may have been the final nail in his SC coffin.
Huckabee shined. He looked like he may very well be ready to join the top-tier.
Hunter was almost entirely forgotten by Hume et.al.
Brownback could be a candidatean but he was a bit too folksy.
Thompson was stiff and looked like a grumpy old man.
Romney was okay, but he needed to do more if he wants to break out of single digits in SC polls.
Gilmore shouldn’t be up there. Period.
Tancredo reminded us of why he’s a “single-issue candidate.”
Paul was annoying and sounded like a Democrat. He killed what little credibility he has by saying he would kill DHS.

7:03 - The MSM is setting up their stand-ups and we have to check in to get inside for the debate, so this is it for our pre-debate live-blog coverage. We will try to be back after the debate with more from the after-party scene. We leave you with a few more shots from cheer corner and, as promised, the Tancredo Uncle Sam:

6:43 - Cheer corner has become a shouting match between McCain and Romney supporters. None of the other campaigns have a presence to rival either. What a scene.

6:32 - Tancredo wins the award for most creative supporter. He has a guy walking around dressed as Uncle Same carrying a sign reading, “Stop illegal immigration. Tancredo for president.” (Picture to follow later)

6:24 - We’ve been silent for a bit because we have been getting picture from “cheer corner.”. We will get them up ASAP if we have enough juice left in our laptops. This corner is PACKED with supporters from all camps. We’re less than 3 hours from the start of the debate.

6:03 - We finally can hear some “we want Mitt” cheers between cowbell rings.

6:01 - Some Giuliani people just showed up at the campaign cheering area at the corner of Green and Assembly. But they have their work cut out for them if they plan to be heard over the shouts of “Who do we want? John McCain! Who will win the War in Iraq? John McCain!” Etc.

5:40 - Over at the FairTax rally, the marching band is back out (they had gone in for about 30 minutes). A crowd is once again gathering around them, Also, there is a man dressed as Santa Clause riding around on a golf cart carrying a sign that says “I drove a long way too.” This place is officially a circus.

5:29 P.M. - It is safe to say that Columbia has probably NEVER SEEN something quite like this. Here are a few shot of the campaign cheering crowds:

5:10 P.M. - The protestors have been replaced by campaign cheering committees. These folks are LOUD. Present are a good number of Romney supporters as well as a few Fair Tax folks, a few Hunter people, and a MASSIVE collection of McCain people. The Romney group is trying to cheer, but they are drowned out by the McCain people who have a BULL HORN and COWBELLS to couple their enormous 10 foot signs.

5:01 P.M. - We just hopped across the street to the FairTax rally to check on all the commotion. There’s a freaking marching band outside greeting visitors. A marching band. How cool. Next, we are going go see what all the protestors on Assembly Street are chanting. Stay tuned…

4:47 P.M. - A whole lot of noise and very loud drum beats are ringing out from the Carolina Coliseum across the street from the Koger Center where the FairTax rally is in full swing. Literally.

4:43 P.M. - A picture truly IS worth a thousand words:

4:40 P.M. - We’ve decided there are more signs than media. Again, this is just the small portion that fit in our scope:

4:38 P.M. - A whole lot of media… and this is just what little we could fit into our camera’s scope:

4:33 P.M. - A small gaggle of FairTax protesters:

4:29 P.M. - More screaming from the same area… not sure why this time though.

4:28 P.M. - It looks like Mitt has arrived because a whole bunch of folks carrying Romney signs on Assembly just started screaming. Following that, the Fair Tax protesters decided to have a little scream of their own. What a sight this place is.

4:26 P.M. - In the words of Joe Nichols… “Size Matters”:

4:21 P.M. - We have a whole bunch of photos to share that we’re uploading as we speak.

4:00 P.M. - Hunter just left again.

3:55 P.M. - We have just arrived at the Koger Center and this place is rocking with activity. No sooner did we arrive than we saw Rep. Duncan Hunter arrive. He looked incredibly focused and was being briefed by staff. Also, we saw a very large man (we believe he works for Romney) pulling up McCain signs because they were “in the right of way.”. It is going to be a very interesting next few hours.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 15th, 2007 at 4:01 pm and is filed under Featured, Primary Season, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.