GOP candidates spend Labor Day on campaign trail

Obama heads to Detroit for speech to 10,000

Posted Sep 5, 2011

Global Post

Gage Skidmore/FlickrSouth Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint was hosting a forum Monday for GOP candidates at Palmetto Freedom Forum in Columbia, S.C.
USDAgov/FlickrPresident Obama was spending Labor Day in Detroit where he was to address an expected crowd of 10,000 at the Renaissance Center.

Six Republican presidential candidates are spending Labor Day at an event hosted by South Carolina Senate. Jim DeMint, an influential leader in the new conservative grassroots movement that includes Tea Party members, CNN reports.

Support from DeMint would be a major boost for any GOP candidate in the key South Carolina primary, CNN says.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, businessman and talk show host Herman Cain, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul all planned to attend DeMint's event at Palmetto Freedom Forum in Columbia, S.C.

DeMint told CBS News that Sarah Palin isn't likely to run for the Republican nomination, and declined to say who the Republican favorite is for now.

"It's still very early," he told CBS News. "We've got all the top candidates in South Carolina today, and we're gonna give them a chance to define themselves on their terms, to talk about the American vision, to talk about what they would do differently than Barack Obama. So, I think we'll learn a lot from the candidates."

U.S. President Barack Obama, meanwhile, is spending Labor Day in Detroit, Mich., speaking at an event hosted by the Metro Detroit Central Labor Council

In Detroit, Obama will deliver his annual Labor Day address to an expected crowd of 10,000 at the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit. He will be joined by trade union leaders, and singer Aretha Franklin is scheduled to perform.

This article originally appeared on GlobalPost.