While Labor Day is, for many, a holiday meant for enjoying summertime's last hurrah, there's no rest for a presidential candidate bent upon unseating President Obama next fall - so tune in today at 3:00 PM to watch the The American Principles Project Palmetto Freedom Forum live from Columbia, South Carolina! Instead of the quickstep debate formats we've seen so far this year, candidates will take to the stage one at a time to substantivly answer questions on their views from three panelists: South Carlolina Sen. Jim DeMint, Rep. Steve King of Iowa, and Dr. Robert George, founder of the American Principles Project and McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University. The participating candidates will include the major GOP contenders: Rep. Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Rep. Ron Paul, Gov. Rick Perry, and Mitt Romney.
You can watch today's Labor Day extravaganza live below, as well as the after-the-show show with all of the candidates immediately following the forum, exclusive to Townhall viewers. Sen. DeMint, et al's questioning is sure to challenge the participants on the hard-hitting issues, and should serve as a great preview to this Wednesday's GOP debate. Enjoy!
Update: Unfortunately, it looks as if Rick Perry has had to withdraw from the forum at the last minute:
Texas Gov. Rick Perry surprised the organizers of today's Palmetto Freedom Forum by withdrawing from the event just hours before it is scheduled to begin. Put together by Sen. Jim DeMint, who is widely acknowledged as a kingmaker in the Republican race in South Carolina, the event, set for 3 p.m. today, will feature candidates Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, Herman Cain, and Newt Gingrich in an unconventional question-and-answer format with DeMint, Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King, and Princeton University professor Robert George.
According to several sources familiar with events, the chairman of Perry's campaign in South Carolina, former Republican party chief Katon Dawson, called organizers this morning to say that Perry needs to return to Texas to deal with quickly-spreading wildfires.