With or without the Bob Jones influence and the rise of pocketbook issues, Ryggs and others say Christian conservatives remain so ingrained in the state’s politics that they can’t be separated – and must be courted by candidates.

South Carolina’s Christian conservatives, personified by Bob Jones University presidents and alums, have both made and broken presidential campaigns.

GOP candidates have for decades turned to the right to woo them after coming out of relatively moderate New Hampshire, and no Republican candidate since 1980 has become the nominee without winning South Carolina and its Bible-driven voters for whom a solid stance against abortion, gay rights and other social issues was paramount.

This year, the economy has changed the pecking order.

Evangelicals and the social issues crowd still matter – and Republican presidential candidates are all but certain to air their positions on conservatives’ concerns during a debate in Spartanburg, S.C., on Saturday. But that long-time pivotal constituency, like much of the country, is far more concerned about paychecks and food on the table.

Meanwhile, the role played by the conservative Christian Bob Jones University and its leaders is waning.

Republican activist Alexia Newman runs a Spartanburg crisis pregnancy center and knows the social issues – faith, family, abortion and same sex marriage – are more of an undercurrent this election. Families, she said, are the fundamental economic unit – and they need money and jobs.

“Everybody is saying people have got to have jobs – and they do,” Newman said. It’s a stress on families and makes it challenge to push all the other issues. “They’re all entwined,” she said.

Talk to voters shopping for candidates and they’re looking for anything but talk about abortion or same-sex marriages.

Bryan McLeod, a retired real estate agent from Moore, doesn’t support gay rights but said he’s more concerned about people having jobs, the national debt and the nation’s borders being secure. Abortion and gay marriage? They’re secondary, said McLeod, 66, and if a candidate is talking up those issues, “it seems like he’s avoiding the real problems.”

Gail Randall, a 54-year-old computer programmer in Greenville, said “it’s all about the economy this year, I think, and job creation.” And social issues? “I don’t think they are as important this year, just because of the trying times we’re having right now economically.”

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