More than 1,000 clamor to see Carly Fiorina during campaign stop in Myrtle Beach

Republican presidential candidate and former business executive Carly Fiorina stressed the importance of personal liberty, small government and setting the right tone as president to a packed ballroom of potential voters in Myrtle Beach.

About 1,100 potential voters filled the ballroom at Crown Reef Resort Tuesday evening, many holding “Carly for America” signs and excited for the chance to see the woman who surged to second place in the polls after her Republican presidential primary debate performance last week.

“I’ve seen her on TV and I wanted a chance to see her in person,” Murrells Inlet resident Kay Shields said, adding that she hadn’t been to see any of the other candidates as they’ve made campaign stops along the Grand Strand. “She is the one I wanted to see. I feel good about her.”

S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson facilitated a forum with Fiorina, which was hosted by the Conservative Leadership Project.

Fiorina said she’s the person who should be the next president of the United States because she believes in a nation built on the core idea of individual liberty.

“Our forefathers thought everyone should have the ability to use their God-given right to fulfill their potential,” she said.

Wilson asked Fiorina questions on topics ranging from the importance of selecting U.S. Supreme Court justices to showing respect to law enforcement, several drawing raucous applause and a few standing ovations from the crowd.

“In many important areas, tone starts at the top and the president has the great opportunity to communicating to the nation what is important,” Fiorina said of working to increase public confidence in law enforcement during one of her best-received responses. “When this president … brings to the White House a young boy whose school overreacted when he was building a clock, but never brings to the White House the family of an officer assassinated – that says it all.

“I would start by respecting and honoring by lifting up those brave men and women who serve us abroad and serve us at home, because we need their service and we should thank them every day,” she said.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who also is running for the Republican presidential nomination, also visited Myrtle Beach on Tuesday, stopping at the Marina Inn in Grande Dunes with his wife Janet to speak with about 40 veterans and locals.

Fiorina is making several stops in South Carolina, where she will stop in seven cities all together during a three-day campaign sweep through the state, when she will file to run for president in Columbia. She stopped in Charleston earlier on Tuesday.

“I know that no one of us is any better than any of of us,” she said of why she is a Republican. “Every one of us can live a life of dignity and purpose and meaning. I know our policies work better to lift people up.”

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 9:15 PM with the headline "More than 1,000 clamor to see Carly Fiorina during campaign stop in Myrtle Beach."