ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
It's primary day in Michigan. The Democratic contest there is a non-event. Several candidates aren't on the ballot because of a dispute over the primary schedule. But for the Republicans, the contest is seen as a critical test before their next primary in South Carolina.
Our co-host Michele Norris is in South Carolina this week. And she was surprised this morning to find some of the Republican candidates in Myrtle Beach - sort of.
MICHELE NORRIS: There's Fred, then Mitt, then Rudy, and Mike, John and Ron — not the actual candidates, but their faces carved in sand - a sand sculpture almost 20 feet tall. South Dakota has Mount Rushmore, South Carolina now has Mount Myrtle.
And while it took Gutzon Borglum more than 14 years to complete Mount Rushmore's four granite faces, an outfit called Team Sandtastic took just four days to carve the Myrtle Beach sculpture.
It's quite an attraction - cars slow as they pass, groups of tourists gather. We caught up with two couples - Paul(ph) and Lyn Worth(ph), and Dave(ph) and Judy Carlson(ph).
Unidentified Woman #1: I think they're very good.
Unidentified Man #1: I think they did look not so real.
Unidentified Woman #1: I think - yeah.
NORRIS: That seems to be the consensus.
Unidentified Man #2: Yeah.
NORRIS: That Fred looks like Fred.
Unidentified Man #2: And Rudy.
Unidentified Man #1: Now, Romney - His hair isn't that big. It's not (unintelligible).
Unidentified Man #2: Actually, they're all very true likenesses. You can see the bulge in McCain's left side of his jaw. You can see Ron Paul's big ears.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Unidentified Man #2: So I think they're all very good likenesses.
NORRIS: Now, John McCain has a lot of hair.
Unidentified Man #1: Well, I think that's just a little sand that's wet.
Unidentified Woman #2: No way.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Unidentified Man #1: (Unintelligible) right there.
NORRIS: Okay. All right.
Brad Dean came up with the idea for Mount Myrtle. He heads the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. He explains how they try to capture the candidates.
Mr. BRAD DEAN (President and CEO, Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce): We used photos but we asked the sculptors to use their imagination and make them creative. Some are better than others. Mike Huckabee loved his. Mitt Romney wasn't crazy about his. I think Mr. Romney felt like we overdid the hair and overdid the smile. But he still did well in the debate. So hopefully, he came away from Myrtle Beach with a positive (unintelligible).
NORRIS: Yeah. The hair is buoyant.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. DEAN: It's got some buoyancy to it. So - and of course, the big question has been how do we place and where do we place them and will we do one for the Democrats.
NORRIS: How did you choose the location?
Mr. DEAN: We tried to play them off of each other. And of course, Ron Paul was farthest to the right because nobody is to the left of Ron Paul politically or otherwise.
NORRIS: Now, what's the long-term plan here? How long will this last?
Mr. DEAN: The sand sculptures can last for weeks at a time. We are looking for a creative way to dismantle them. And hopefully, we can have some fun with the dismantling of Mount Myrtle once the debates are over.
NORRIS: How do you dismantle it? It means like, you know, basically, taking a pickax to someone (unintelligible). How do you do that?
Mr. DEAN: Normally, you use equipment to dismantle the sand and move it. We understand there are maybe some Democrats who are looking forward to helping dismantle the Republican candidates.
NORRIS: And vice versa I would say so.
Mr. DEAN: Absolutely.
NORRIS: And the Democrats? Work on their sculpture begins tomorrow.
In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I'm Michele Norris.