A Braun supporter made it into state Democratic Party headquarters in Columbia at about 4:30 p.m., Friday, just 30 minutes before the 5 p.m. cutoff.

The Democrats running in the primary have two ways of getting on the ballot: turning in a petition with the names of 3,000 registered voters on it or handing over a $2,500 check.

Though some of the campaigns turned in petitions as a show of strength, all of them also turned in $2,500 checks just to cover their bases in case some of their petition names didn't check out as legally registered voters.

North Carolina Sen. John Edwards already has been stung by the valid voter bug in Rhode Island, where he needed 1,000 signatures to get on the March 2 ballot but may be short of valid names by about two dozen.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean also registered for the primary Friday. Perennial candidate Lyndon LaRouche also filed for the S.C. primary Friday afternoon, although the Democratic National Committee does not recognize him as a Democratic candidate, which makes him ineligible to appear on the S.C. ballot, a state party spokesman said.

Although Braun was the last candidate to file, her name will be first on the ballot since the candidates will be listed alphabetically.

SHARPTON GETTING PERMANENT PRESENCE

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who is expected by some to do well in the Feb. 3 primary based on the prospects of a large black turnout, has hired three senior campaign professionals to boost his South Carolina effort.

Joining the team are new state director Roderick Scott, director of operations Trelvis Miller and communications director Cheryl Washington.

The three were hired to help "maximize turnout of the South Carolina's significant minority population," according to a press release.

Sharpton has been one of the most frequent visitors to the state in the pack and has collected as high as a 12 percent share in some polls.

TV BLITZ HERE TO STAY

Most of the competitive campaigns running in the Feb. 3 primary will be on TV almost nonstop from now on.

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman goes on the air Monday, joining Wes Clark, Howard Dean, John Edwards and Dick Gephardt in the barrage of TV ads.

Some of the candidate buys might cost as much as $150,000 a week, a moderate amount, but some might be as low as $50,000.

The latter is just enough to give the candidates a presence here as they spend more of their day-to-day campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire during the next three weeks.

While South Carolina TV markets will be flooded this month, particularly at the end of the month, black-owned newspapers should also see a windfall as the candidates buy ad space.

They should fare well ahead of the Jan. 19 Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, which is also the date of the Iowa caucuses.

QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

"Look at Howard Dean and, as a Republican, think about the advertising we're going to run." -- Republican pollster Bill McInturff about Dean as the Democratic nominee.

"If we had strong leadership in the Democratic Party, it would be calling the other candidates and saying somebody has to win here. If (former Democratic National Committee head) Ron Brown were chairman, this wouldn't be happening." -- Dean complaining about the attacks from other candidates he's suffered as the front-runner.

"Dean will melt in a minute once Republicans start going after him," -- Joe Lieberman, saying that if Dean thinks he's being attacked now, wait until President Bush's campaign makes him a target.

UPCOMING VISIT

On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt will take part in a rally at the steelworkers union hall in Georgetown at 3 p.m. It is in the same hall that Howard Dean was prevented from going to last week because the national union had endorsed Gephardt.

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