Earlier today, five GOP 2012 candidates attended the Palmetto Freedom Forum sponsored by South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint and the American Principles Project. The forum took place in Columbia, South Carolina. Below you can find the entire video in an 8-part playlist.
Participants: Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain
Original Air Time/Date: September 5th (Labor Day) at 3pm EST on CNN
Report from WLTX:
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Pledging fidelity to the Constitution and vowing to carry the tea party’s priorities to the White House, the Republicans chasing the GOP’s presidential nomination pitched themselves Monday to their party’s libertarian activists as the strongest candidates to roll back four years of President Barack Obama’s tenure.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said the Obama administration flaunted the constitution to push a political agenda. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota stridently called Obama’s policies “unconstitutional” at the same tea party-backed forum on Labor Day. And Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the third member of his party’s top tier, told a separate town hall-style audience earlier in the day that he has a better record on jobs than the president.
With Labor Day marking the unofficial start to the 2012 campaign, the contenders were painting themselves to the tea party during an afternoon forum with Sen. Jim DeMint in his home state – site of the first nominating contest in the South. The event was designed to probe the candidates on their views of spending, taxes and the Constitution – bedrock principles for the tea party activists whose rising clout is likely to shape the nominating process.
Originally Texas Governor Rick Perry was also slated to attend, however, he was forced to cut his campaigning short and return to his state to manage the worsening wildfire situation.
