American Dispatch: �First In the South�

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By: FOX News Radio�s Eben Brown in Columbia, SC

It�s the final push before South Carolina�s �First in the South� Presidential primary, and Republican enthusiasts in this state are furiously trying to convince their friends that their candidate is the best man to do a job they all seem to believe needs doing; defeating President Obama in his bid for re-election.

It�s a land unlike the cornfields full of farmers in Iowa to which hopeful candidates spend so much of their initial campaign money. �It�s unlike the frigid suburbs of New Hampshire where an aspiring nominee tries to prove that Iowa didn�t decide the primary race in favor of someone else.

This is the South, y�all.

�We�re the soul,� says Margery Chavez, who attended a Rick Perry event in Columbia a week before the Texas Governor left the race.�This is where the United States gets its image.

It�s where neighbors still gather on front porches to drink sweet tea and where your local celebrities are your preacher and your high school quarterback. �It�s unsophisticated. �It�s unpolished. �It�s dotted with pick-up trucks and stock-car racing fans.� But it�s also charming, comforting, and pleasant.

And, it�s also where you address your elders as �sir� or �ma�am.� �Where people take pride in getting their hands dirty and where sweat is valued with dollars and admiration. �It�s also where daily meals are family functions. �Breakfast means bacon and biscuits. �Barbecue is more competition than lunch, and gumbo recipes are closely guarded family secrets.

It�s a far cry from the Northeast or West Coast metropolis, where euro-chic culture is pined after and where millions of people walk the same sidewalk at the same time without talking to one another. �Here, they care about their kids being able to find jobs. �They prefer to work for something, and hold on to it. �They adore the military. �They want to make sure the country can defend itself.

These folks want to know if a candidate is just like them. �Decades ago, it would matter what church the candidate attended. �Today, they just want a candidate to attend a church. �They want someone who they wouldn�t mind on the other side of the fence in adjacent yards.

The South is also where GOP Presidential candidates are made or broken. �Florida�s decision to move its primary to January 31st, squeezes the traditionally early states into a close calendar. �This highlights even more the importance of the South�s votes.

This year, South Carolina has a total of 25 delegates to be won. �Twenty-two will be pledged on primary night, the remainder at the RNC. �Florida will give whoever wins the sunshine state�s primary all of its 50 delegates. �What a way to build your confidence heading into Super Tuesday!� A candidate could then sweep the whole deal heading into the contests in Texas and California, which combined have more than 350 delegates up for grabs.

�The yankees don�t have it down right,� adds Chavez. ��We know the real deal down here.� �In fact, it has been South Carolina that is the sieve this time around. �In this week leading up to the primary, both Jon Hunstman and Rick Perry bowed out. �Mitt Romney�s had trouble keeping a lead in opinion polls.

If you ask a southerner why, they�d tell you it�s the most diverse place in the country. �You find all walks of life in the south. ��South Carolina is a picture of the heartbeat of America,� says Danny Himsey.� He came out to hear Newt Gingrich speak in Warrenville.� �I know the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire Primary is not a picture of what America is. �It is a picture of what America isn�t.��

It�s true that in the south you find everybody. �There are Caucasians and African-Americans.� There are all sorts of Christians, enduring Jewish communities, and even American Muslims. �It�s hard to find someone here who doesn�t have Latino or Native American heritage from at least one grandparent. �Aside from those folks, you have all variations of Eastern Asians. �I once had gumbo and spring rolls for lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant in Biloxi, Mississippi.� And it was good.

The rule applies to South Carolina for sure. �And that�s why South Carolinians insist their primary is more important. ��If you do well here, you can play to the whole country,� says Chad Connelly, the chairman of the state�s Republican Party.

It could be the case. �But Florida, which holds their primary just ten days later, claims the same thing. �Florida has an exponentially larger, yet just as diverse population.

It also has more expensive media markets. �Candidates will need to spend more money traveling to shake hands, but they will also need to spend more money to approve messages in television ads. �But one thing�s for sure: �No candidate is going to get to stock up early on delegates without winning in the South.

Listen HERE to some of Eben Brown�s reporting from South Carolina: