S. Carolina voters struggle to pick a candidate After a topsy-turvy week that has shaken up the Republican presidential race, some South Carolinians waited until the last minute to declare their allegiance at the ballot box Saturday. "I didn't decide until this morning," said one 70-year woman who would not give her name. The choice was who is best to win in November -- I'm the kind of person who wants to win in November. The likely choice she referred to was between Newt Gingrich, a political veteran who has long walked the corridors of Washington, or Mitt Romney, who likes to remind voters that he spent his career in business, not Washington. In middle class Columbia, capital of this conservative southern state, Romney could get a boost as he tries to overcome a last-minute slide in the polls that has seen Gingrich charge into the lead. "I voted for Mitt Romney, I believe he's the most competitive candidate against Barack Obama in the general elections," said David Traylor. "He has a good background in business and can appeal to a broader number of voters in the general election," added Traylor, referring to the November 6 contest in which the Democrat Obama is seeking a second White House term. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, has seen a lead once as high as 20 points disintegrate after a surge from Gingrich in the bruising past week of an aggressive campaign. The other candidates -- veteran Texas congressman Ron Paul and Christian conservative former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum -- remain in the field and hope to gain support from wavering voters. In a huge church hall in Columbia, the voters -- who do not need to be members of the Republican Party to cast a ballot -- signed an attendance sheet and then made their pick electronically in one of two small booths. "Originally, I was for Romney, but he lacks the fire we need now," said Helen Selviger. I voted for Gingrich. I don't like him personally, but he has the experience and the leadership we need now. Selviger's husband David joked: "I voted the same as my wife, which is unusual." Byron Rader also voted for Gingrich, although he said choosing between the former house speaker and Romney had been difficult. "He's smarter and I think he can work better than others with the other party," said Rader of Gingrich, who during the campaign has often touted his cooperation with Democrats when he was house speaker as evidence that he can breach the chasm that currently exists between the two parties. Julio Soto-Perez, a woman in her 60s, also waited until the last minute to make up her mind after wavering between Gingrich and Santorum. "I decided today and voted Santorum, because he's not against the poor, to put it simply," she said.