Turnout will be key for Mitt Romney , Newt Gingrich , Rick Santorum and Ron Paul as they battle in today's first-in-the-South primary.
Matt Moore, executive director of the South Carolina Republican Party, is predicting strong turnout. He told The State newspaper in Columbia that he believes turnout will be somewhere between the record-high 573,101 voters who cast ballots in 2000 and the 2008 turnout of 445,499 voters.
Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.
Besides bragging rights, the victor of South Carolina's GOP primary will win delegates to the national convention. At stake are 25 delegates out of the 1,144 needed for the GOP nomination.
Romney goes into the South Carolina primary with 33 delegates, according to an Associated Press tally as of Friday evening, compared with 13 delegates for Rick Santorum.
On Friday, he made parallels to Goldilocks and the Three Bears, calling Gingrich's history too hot, questioning whether he had the "discipline to go out and be steady," and Romney as "just a little cool, just a little timid."
Left out of Santorum's fable is Texas Rep. Ron Paul, although most polls show him running just a few points behind Santorum.
Although most GOP strategists see Paul's strict interpretation of the Constitution and his views on defense and spending as out of step with the mainstream, he appeals to libertarian-leaning Republicans and has a large following among younger voters.
On Friday, Paul addressed that appeal, saying, "A lot of people do identify me with another generation, the younger generation who's so enthusiastic about the things that we've been talking about in going back to the Constitution," Paul said. "So this to me is very encouraging because the growth of the freedom movement is getting to be exponential. It was very, very slow for a long time."
The candidates are making their final pitches to voters on Saturday with Gingrich, Romney and Santorum making several stops in the more conservative upstate before they converge in the state capital of Columbia as returns start coming in.
Romney and Gingrich are also inadvertently converging in the upstate at Tommy's Country Ham House in Greenville, where both campaigns scheduled competing events at the same time.
The Romney campaign scheduled the stop late, trying to pick up conservative voters in the waning hours, but aides insist the competing appearances are purely coincidence.
Matt Moore, executive director of the South Carolina Republican Party, is predicting strong turnout. He told The State newspaper in Columbia that he believes turnout will be somewhere between the record-high 573,101 voters who cast ballots in 2000 and the 2008 turnout of 445,499 voters.
Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.
Besides bragging rights, the victor of South Carolina's GOP primary will win delegates to the national convention. At stake are 25 delegates out of the 1,144 needed for the GOP nomination.
Romney goes into the South Carolina primary with 33 delegates, according to an Associated Press tally as of Friday evening, compared with 13 delegates for Rick Santorum.
On Friday, he made parallels to Goldilocks and the Three Bears, calling Gingrich's history too hot, questioning whether he had the "discipline to go out and be steady," and Romney as "just a little cool, just a little timid."
Left out of Santorum's fable is Texas Rep. Ron Paul, although most polls show him running just a few points behind Santorum.
Although most GOP strategists see Paul's strict interpretation of the Constitution and his views on defense and spending as out of step with the mainstream, he appeals to libertarian-leaning Republicans and has a large following among younger voters.
On Friday, Paul addressed that appeal, saying, "A lot of people do identify me with another generation, the younger generation who's so enthusiastic about the things that we've been talking about in going back to the Constitution," Paul said. "So this to me is very encouraging because the growth of the freedom movement is getting to be exponential. It was very, very slow for a long time."
The candidates are making their final pitches to voters on Saturday with Gingrich, Romney and Santorum making several stops in the more conservative upstate before they converge in the state capital of Columbia as returns start coming in.
Romney and Gingrich are also inadvertently converging in the upstate at Tommy's Country Ham House in Greenville, where both campaigns scheduled competing events at the same time.
The Romney campaign scheduled the stop late, trying to pick up conservative voters in the waning hours, but aides insist the competing appearances are purely coincidence.
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