Meet the GOP presidential SAND-IDATES: South Carolina greet Republican field with giant Mount Rushmore-style sculpture just in time for tomorrow's debate



With just a week to go till the south's first primary, South Carolina is eagerly anticipating the arrival of the GOP presidential hopefuls.



And when they arrive in the town of Myrtle Beach for the next televised debate tomorrow night, the leading candidates will be in for a treat-the town has unveiled a Mount Rushmore style sculpture made entirely from sand.



A team of five artists built the giant sculpture from 525 tons of locally mined sand, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Life's a beach: A giant sand sculpture depicts Republican presidential candidates, from left to right Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, as well as Jon Huntsman, third from left, who is expected to drop out tomorrow

For Mitt Romney and Ron Paul this is the second time they have been featured in a Myrtle Beach sand sculpture. They both appeared in a sculpture commissioned for the 2008 presidential debate.



Artists in 2008 also built likenesses of the Democratic candidates Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton and Jon Edwards.



In 2007 in Myrtle Beach the same team constructed the world’s tallest sand castle which stood more than 40ft high.

The massive sculpture which stands across the street from convention centre where the debate will be held, also features a tribute to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.



This year’s sculptors battled damp condition s, but any candidates that drop out of the race can rest assured their position is stable -the sculptures have set solid, Visitors Bureau spokesman told the Journal, Kimberly Miles.

Last minute: An artist puts the finishing touches to sand sculptures of Rick Perry and Rick Santorum

Like for like: The sculpture of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, next to Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry, is the most lifelike, according to witnesses Immortalised: Mitt Romney, in sand, at Myrtle Beach ahead of the GOP debate tomorrow night

It was built using shovels and pastry knives, Macleans reported.

A splintered conservative vote in South Carolina could pave the way for Mitt Romney to win this week's pivotal primary, some rivals said Sunday, acknowledging an outcome that prominent state lawmakers suggested could end the nomination fight.



'I think the only way that a Massachusetts moderate can get through South Carolina is if the vote is split,' said Newt Gingrich, portraying himself as the lone conservative with a "realistic chance" of beating Romney in the first-in-the-South contest.

Polls show Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who struggled to a fourth-place finish in South Carolina during his 2008 White House run, with a lead heading into Saturday's vote. The state has a large population of evangelicals and other conservative Christians, and concerns arose four years ago about his Mormon faith.



But Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry all said Romney, after victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, continued to benefit from the fractured GOP field and the failure of social conservatives to fully coalesce around a single alternative.



Rock solid: Mt. Myrtle begins to take shape as sulptors work on the Republican presidential candidates' faces and parts of their torsos

Giant achievement: A team of five artists built the giant sculpture from 525 tons of locally mined sand

Santorum said South Carolina is 'not going to be the final issue' and spoke of the 'need to get this eventually down to a conservative alternative' to Romney. 'When we get it down to a two-person race, we have an excellent opportunity to win this race,' said the former Pennsylvania senator, who won the endorsement of an influential group of social conservatives and evangelical leaders Saturday in Texas.

Perry, the Texas governor, said it was 'our intention' to compete in the next contest, Florida's Jan. 31 primary, even if he finished last in South Carolina.



Gingrich said he would 'reassess' his candidacy if he lost in South Carolina and acknowledged that a Romney victory would mean "an enormous advantage going forward."



The former House speaker appealed for the support of 'every conservative who wants to have a conservative nominee.'



Race almost over? Polls show Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who struggled to a fourth-place finish in South Carolina during his 2008 White House run, with a lead heading into Saturday's vote

Second time lucky? For Mitt Romney and Ron Paul this is the second time they have been featured in a Myrtle Beach sand sculpture

'I hope every conservative will reach the conclusion that to vote for anybody but Gingrich is, in fact, to help Romney win the nomination,' he said.

The state's senior senator, Republican Lindsey Graham, started looking beyond Saturday's primary, saying, 'If for some reason he's not derailed here and Mitt Romney wins South Carolina ... I think it should be over." He added, "I'd hope the party would rally around him if he did in fact win South Carolina.'



To Rep. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the equation is simple: 'If Romney wins South Carolina, I think the game's over. This is the last stand for many candidates.'

He noted that three candidates are pursuing the evangelical vote 'very strongly, and without any question that works to the Romney campaign's benefit. It's hard to find a single candidate that rallies all of the Christian voters in South Carolina, and therefore that splintered approach will probably have a major impact' in the primary.

