One faction staunchly advocates more domestic oil and gas drilling, augmented with new nuclear power plants, as the nation's energy salvation. Just as staunchly, the opposition depicts more drilling as the pointless feeding of an unsustainable addiction; it urges a greater policy emphasis on such sustainable energy sources as solar power, wind power and biofuels. Each faction advances seemingly strong arguments for its position, grounded in dueling projections and statistics.

Someone needs to sort all this out for local folks. Into that confusion breach has stepped the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce with its first ever Alternative Energy Forum. The event, which will include energy-related exhibits, happens Oct. 8 at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, between 8:30 a.m. and noon.

The putt-putt challenge comes after ABC commentator Cokie Roberts criticized Obama this past weekend for vacationing in "foreign, exotic" Hawaii instead of someplace like Myrtle Beach.

After hearing that, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce reached out publicly to Obama and invited him back to the Grand Strand. Then, it upped the ante by inviting both presumptive nominees to take part in the annual mini-golf championship held at the conveniently named Hawaiian Rumble in North Myrtle Beach.

Online surveys of people who ordered the Stay & Play vacation planners produced by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce show that people who ordered the guides are more likely than last year to be new to the area - good news for businesses trying to lure customers.

Myrtle Beach relies on a core of repeat vacationers, but it has been throwing millions of dollars into advertising and promotion to attract new visitors.

CNN and Fox News said the city's name often, with Fox's Sean Hannity calling it "beautiful Myrtle Beach, just 72 degrees here tonight."

Most of the more than 100 newspapers and TV stations across the world that mentioned the debates gave the city just that: a mention.

The national publicity, additional advertising and abundant promotion attracted worldwide attention. We hosted more than 1,000 journalists from 21 nations, all of whom were greeted with warm Southern hospitality from the moment they arrived until the moment they left. The free publicity received, valued in the millions of dollars, put us at the center of the nation's attention for nearly two weeks, creating a steady stream of awareness our community rightly deserves.

We hosted 41 members of Congress, four foreign embassies and a large number of corporate executives, all of whom discovered, or rediscovered, a New Myrtle Beach. And though the weather went from hot to cold, they will certainly not forget the wonderfully warm reception they received and the historic occasion they observed. Better yet, we hosted the next president of the United States of America, and he or she will most certainly remember the time spent in our community (and hopefully carry a photograph of their personalized sand sculpture into the White House in 2009).

Although it bore a striking resemblance to one-time presidential hopeful, Comedy Central personality and Charleston native Stephen Colbert, those in the know were sworn to silence about the sculpture, including whether or when it will be shown on a cable TV network.

"I'm supposed to tell you I can neither confirm or deny the existence of said sculpture," said chamber President Brad Dean on Tuesday, about an hour after a Myrtle Beach fire crew demolished the sculpted face. "I hate to be evasive, but we've been asked to do that."

While some high-ranking members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Democratic Party continued to withhold their endorsements after Monday's Democratic debate, they agreed that Myrtle Beach was a clear winner

"I think South Carolina won. I think Myrtle Beach won," said U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-Columbia, during his stop in the spin room, or news conference room, after the debate.

But when the sand castle is doubling as an ad for Myrtle Beach, it better be attention-grabbing and get the message across.

Elaborate and nontraditional sand castles, like the two built here for the presidential debates this month, have fast become the most popular form of publicity stunt in Myrtle Beach.

After months of planning, days of setup and countless hours of conference calls, the Republican debate in Myrtle Beach Thursday seemed to roll smoothly, organizers and attendees said.

The debate was part one of Myrtle Beach's two-part test of whether it can perform in the national spotlight, and organizers crowed that they proved the tourist city could pull off a major political event that required intense logistical preparation.

When two presidential debates arrive in Myrtle Beach this month, everyone involved agrees that they may be the city's best chance ever to sell itself on the national level.

Behind the scenes, many involved agree that the debates were secured by an unprecedented marketing effort.