state party chairman chad connolly says the state has the right mix of voters reflecting the entire party. >> we've got the social conservatives and the fiscal conservatives. >> reporter: in recent years, it's also seen the emergence of the tea party. on monday, senator jim demint, a tea party favorite, held a forum to test the top candidates on everything from jobs to abortion. minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann. >> i would put forward a human life amendment and at the same time i would do everything within my power to restrict the number of abortions that occurs in the united states. >> reporter: with the state's unemployment rate at 10.9%-- nearly two points higher than the national average-- the candidates-- including former

state republican chair chad connolly told "u.s.a.st in the south and we're not going to share our date with anybody, especially a state that breaks the rules." yeah! south carolina has proven that unless you play by their rules they will take their state and go home! (laughter and applause) well, i say i say in all that campaign cash is attracting all the early primaries, let's make sure south carolina gets all that campaign cash by letting the cash decide the primary. just do away with the voting and give all our delegates to whoever spends the most money! on primary day, campaigns just hand in their receipts. (laughter) that way, unlike electronic voting, at least we'll have a paper trail. (laughter) to protect your interests, south carolina, as long as we're deciding presidential bids, shouldn't we give our state to the highest bidder? we'll be right back. (cheers and applause) [ "chopsticks" plays ] ♪ don't you two know any other songs? [ music stops ] [ "chopsticks" plays in a higher octave ] [ crunch ] [ male announcer ] take a