Less than 15 minutes into their televised debate, both candidates made several digs at the other, firing charges that the opponent was first to wage a dirty campaign.

DeMint said Beasley has a history of "exaggerating things."

"You really can't take what he says very seriously," said DeMint, the incumbent 4th District U.S. congressman from Greenville, who finished in second place two weeks ago.

Beasley, governor from 1995 to 1998, said DeMint broke his word on whether he'd accept Political Action Committee money, which now totals about $400,000.

Beasley accused DeMint of setting the tone for the runoff with unprovoked negative ads. He mentioned one DeMint ad that labels Beasley as "wishy-washy" for making the choice to support moving the Confederate flag from the Statehouse dome.

"I did it because it was good for South Carolina and not because it was good for my own political expediency," Beasley said of his switch to endorse removing the flag.

DeMint said he took PAC money in part because federal election laws have changed. He accused Beasley of attacking him "and the president" for their positions on supporting global free trade. DeMint sided with President George W. Bush on free trade agreements that some say have hurt South Carolina textile workers.

DeMint defended the votes, saying they opened up markets for goods made by other South Carolina workers.

Beasley said DeMint "sold out" South Carolina with those votes, adding DeMint's attendance record in Congress has been less than stellar, missing 50 percent of the votes he faced this year. DeMint did not challenge the number.

For one hour, the two opponents in Tuesday's runoff sat facing each other inside the studios of ABC affiliate WPDE-TV, which covers Myrtle Beach and the Pee Dee region.

Other than their position on trade, there was little philosophical difference between the two. Both men supported the course of the war in Iraq and agreed nuclear waste at the Savannah River Site should be treated and removed as soon as possible. They backed adult stem cell research and opposed embryonic stem cell research.

The candidates were asked who might be the weaker candidate in November against Democrat Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum.

Beasley said DeMint's problem was that he didn't win among Republican voters in his own Upstate backyard in the June 8 vote.

"The Upstate textile voter base, which is clearly a big Republican voter base, is not going to vote for Jim in November," Beasley said.

DeMint responded that two out of three Republicans in the June 8 primary voted for someone other than Beasley. "Clearly, South Carolina Republicans are looking for an alternative," he said.

Toward the end of the debate, the two were asked their top priority if elected. DeMint's answer was to boost American competitiveness.

"Trade is not our problem. Trade is our opportunity," he said.

Beasley said DeMint has been wrong on trade and that his goal would be "undoing the last six years of Jim's policies that have destroyed our economy."

Polls are open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday.

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