By Adam Fogle | September 22nd, 2009 | 6 comments

FOLLOW ALONG LIVE AS 90 MINUTE DEBATE TAKES PLACE

The race to become the next governor of South Carolina officially begins tonight with the “First in the State GOP Gubernatorial Debate” live from the Newberry Opera House at 7 p.m.

Five Republicans — Congressman Gresham Barrett, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, Attorney General Henry McMaster, State Sen. Larry Grooms, and State Rep. Nikki Haley — will face off for 90 minutes, answering questions from moderator Judi Gaston and viewers at home.

You can watch the debate live on WIS-TV’s website by clicking here. You can also follow along below for The Palmetto Scoop’s live blog.

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8:38 p.m. — Well, that will do it. Not a spectacular first debate, but a neat little spring training matchup, nonetheless. I think you could argue that there were a couple of winners. But it’s not who won so much as who lost. I think WIS was the biggest loser because their live feed was absolutely atrocious. Seriously, they could have used UStream or any number of free streaming video services that not only work, but are embeddable. Instead, they dished out money to use an awful Raycom live stream service that was unreliable at best, and even during the few moments it was working, the audio didn’t match with the video. The biggest loser on the stage was Barrett. He finished dead last in the WIS poll and that’s not a fluke. He looked cold and sad on the stage, had absolutely no good moments, and had a number of bad replies. Luckily for him, there were probably a total of 500 people who saw this debate.

8:33 p.m. — WIS poll: Who won the debate? Haley 42%, McMaster 25%, Grooms 14%, Bauer 12%, Barrett 7%.

8:30 p.m. — Two yes or no questions to end the debate that all five agree on. “We’re all Republicans” chides McMaster.

8:25 p.m. — Bauer asked how he can assure conservative voters that the Republican Party can meet their needs. His response: “I can’t assure them.”

8:22 p.m. — When electing a governor, we need to look at “character” and “past performance.” You mean, like this?

8:18 p.m. — Bauer just said “the progress of Africans in our state.” Umm… I think he’s missing a word there.

8:16 p.m. — Grooms says he wouldn’t remove the flag from the Statehouse and it would be too hard to do so needing a two-thirds vote. McMaster says “that issue has been settled… I consider that question resolved. We need to focus on new challenges that confront us.” Bauer agrees with McMaster and Grooms. Haley does not want to revisit the issue because of all the “hurt feelings” from the last go-around.

8:15 p.m. — Barrett gets Confederate flag question again. “Should it be removed from the Statehouse grounds.” He says he wants to bring people together, but again fails to answer the question until pressed.

8:14 p.m. — Haley earlier said she doesn’t believe in labels. When asked if she’s a populist, she labels herself a “conservative” and a “fighter.” Interesting.

8:12 p.m. — Bauer jokes about his “traffic infringements,” says he wants to “help young people not make the same mistakes I’ve made.”

8:11 p.m. — “Marriage is the cornerstoen of our society,” Grooms says, playing for the social righties.

8:09 p.m. — McMaster: “Our children will be paying for this money they’re spending in Washington.” They = Barrett.

8:07 p.m. — Haley “runs from labels.” In other words, she doesn’t want to say whether she’s a Sanford or Campbell Republican. Hopefully she’ll make up her mind sometime soon.

8:05 p.m. — Grooms is a “Larry Grooms Republican,” whatever the hell that is. Says he’ll bring in more jobs than Campbell. Riiiight…

8:04 p.m. — Bauer says he’s more a Carroll Campbell Republican than a Sanford Republican. What a shocking answer.

8:02 p.m. — McMaster gets a ridiculous question about raising a militia to stop the federal government. Did anybody screen these? “Preventing the federal government from overstepping their bounds is a full time job that requires more than a militia,” McMaster responded. “But I wouldn’t do it with bullets.” Great answer.

8:01 p.m. — Here goes Grooms with the Ron Paul talking points again. The he referenced a “path to prosperity.” Way to completely steal that from McMaster.

7:59 p.m. — Barrett would rather be a social conservative than a fiscal conservative. I guess that explains the bailout vote.

7:58 p.m. — More on Barrett dodging the NAACP/Confederate flag issue here.

7:57 p.m. — Haley: “It is not fun being a tabloid state in the national news.” She should probably talk to her buddy Gov. Mark Sanford about that.

7:55 p.m. — Right out of the gate, Bauer gets a tough question referencing Rusty DePass incident. Bauer handled it well, saying as governor he would work to improve race relations.

7:51 p.m. — Another short break.

7:50 p.m. — McMaster answers a question meant for Bauer. Whoops.

7:49 p.m. — McMaster calls for lower college tuition rate.

7:48 p.m. — Grooms gets question about no child left behind. Instead tells viewers at home to talk about debate on Twitter using hashtag “scdebate.”

7:45 p.m. — Barrett dodges school choice question. He has yet to actually answer anything tonight.

7:40 p.m. — Barrett dead last in WIS poll with 12 percent of vote. Defending the bailout vote no doubt is killing him.

7:38 p.m. — Bauer says we need to reduce the number of school districts in the state. “Too many administrators, not enough teachers.”

7:37 p.m. — “Good teachers, choice, competition, innovation and accountability,” McMaster says of solving South Carolina’s failing education system.

7:35 p.m. — Haley balks on school choice question. “I support all forms of education reform.”

7:33 p.m. — Barrett: “We need to improve education.” How? Focus on 12 of 46 counties. What about the other 34 counties… just give up on them?

7:32 p.m. — We’re back…

7:30 p.m. — Taking a short break. Education up next.

7:28 p.m. — This is the first time I haven’t seen Grooms seem absolutely crazy. Good for him!

7:27 p.m. — Judi isn’t messing around with cutting candidates off for going over on time. I think she’s stopped everyone at some point already.

7:24 p.m. — Haley gets a softball: Should we reject any more stimulus money?

7:23 p.m. — McMaster: “I don’t apologize for South Carolina. I’m happy to be here. We need to take that attitude to the legislator.”

7:20 p.m. — Barrett tried to dodge the question of whether legislators should work with the NAACP to discuss the boycott of the state over the Confederate flag. Judi responded “just a yes or no.” Ouch.

7:18 p.m. — Haley goes for the obvious and calls for lower property taxes and zero-based budget. That all sounds good, but there wasn’t a whole lot of substance there.

7:16 p.m. — Bauer wants to travel abroad more? Huh?

7:13 p.m. — Haley didn’t have a bad first round. McMaster slightly better.

7:11 p.m. — Grooms bringing up his “business roots” again, saying something about business permits.

7:10 p.m. — WIS live stream has so far been hit or miss. This doesn’t bode well for the folks at home.

7:08 p.m. — Barrett continues to defend his bailout vote. No apology whatsoever. He just doesn’t get it.

7:02 p.m. — Bauer gets first question, says he’s not ready to announce gubernatorial campaign yet.

7:01 p.m. — Candidates announced. From left to right: Haley, Barrett, Grooms, McMaster, Bauer.

7:00 p.m. — Here we go… let the debate begin!

6:25 p.m. — We’re 35 minutes from “kickoff.” Check back at 7 p.m. for the live blog.