Charleston area becomes the center of presidential campaigns this weekend

Seldom do the stars align like they will this weekend along the South Carolina coast.

At least the stars of presidential politics.

Candidates from both parties will take a break from the snows of Iowa and New Hampshire and head to Charleston for nationally televised debates and a weekend of campaign activities.

“It’s a fun time to be in Charleston,” said Brady Quirk-Garven, chairman of the Charleston County Democratic Party.

For a political junkie, that’s an understatement.

▪ On Thursday, the major Republican candidates gather at the North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center for a debate sponsored by the Fox Business Network.

The main event will feature the fewest GOP candidates yet. Only Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump met the network’s criteria to participate.

▪ On Friday, convoys of TV satellite trucks will head up the road to the 5th Annual S.C. Tea Party Coalition convention in Myrtle Beach.

Organizer Joe Dugan expects 1,500 people will attend the three day event, which starts Saturday. They’ll hear from at least six of the Republican candidates, who will each have 40 minutes to make their pitch and answer questions. Dugan expects a more serious discussion than at least at some debates.

“The candidates will have a chance to say something and it won’t be a food fight,” he said.

▪ On Sunday, Democrats will meet in Charleston’s Gaillard Center for a debate sponsored by NBC and The Congressional Black Caucus Institute.

The night before, the candidates will be together for what’s billed as the “First in the South Dinner,” followed by a Low Country version of U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn’s Fish Fry.

“The Low Country definitely seems to be the epicenter this week between the debate and tea party gathering,” said Scott Huffmon, a political scientist at Winthrop University.

And those are just the main events.

Democrats kick off activities Wednesday with a “preview” of the Republican debate for reporters at a downtown square. On Sunday, RealClearPolitics will hold a campaign briefing featuring leaders of both parties and a panel of reporters.

Meanwhile candidates will hold their own campaign events.

Kasich, for example, will meet supporters at a downtown inn Wednesday. Carson will meet with voters at a Market Street cafe on Friday morning. Later that day, Cruz heads to Columbia and Greenville, before stopping at Fort Mill’s MorningStar Fellowship Church Saturday morning.

But before then, it will be Charleston that grabs the spotlight.

Gibbs Knotts, a political scientist at the College of Charleston, found himself juggling requests for media interviews Tuesday.

“It’s privilege to live in an early primary state,” he said.

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 6:29 PM with the headline "Charleston area becomes the center of presidential campaigns this weekend."