Perry's Out, Gingrich Surges To Lead In SC
Posted by Ashish on 01.19.2012
Gingrich takes the lead in SC, but will it last?
Rick Perry's out after meeting with Newt Gingrich Wednesday night. They hatched out some deal. This is a big deal for two reasons -- Gingrich will likely get most of Perry's 5% in South Carolina, and if Gingrich can win in South Carolina, Perry is a strong ally to have from a fundraising standpoint because he opens up doors for Gingrich to the vast Texas Republican fundraising machine.
If that news isn't enough good news for Gingrich, three new South Carolina polls out today have him now leading over Mitt Romney. InsiderAdvantage has Gingrich up 32% to 29% over Romney. Rasmussen has Gingrich up 33% to 31% over Romney. Public Policy Polling has Gingrich up 34% to 28% over Romney. Ron Paul is third in all three polls with 15%.
What has caused the latest Gingrich surge? He got aggressive. He started attacking Romney in South Carolina. The Bain attacks got a lot of media attention, but it's likely the ads he ran on Romney's past abortion positions that were more effective. He had a strong debate performance on Monday that helped and reminded Republican primary voters what they liked about him. And Romney has hurt himself this week with his flubs over his tax return and what tax rate he pays.
The key now is, can Gingrich pull off the win in SC? And more importantly, if he does, can he talk Rick Santorum into quitting before Florida? If only Romney, Gingrich, and Paul are left after South Carolina, it creates a one-on-one situation for Gingrich where he could potentially give Romney a lot of headaches. Romney has counted on keeping the conservative vote fractured among many candidates, but it now looks like Gingrich may be the last man standing among the far-right candidates.
The problem for Gingrich now is that right as he is starting to surge again, his ex-wife's interview with ABC is set to air where she claims that Gingrich wanted an open marriage and that he cheated on her with his current wife in her bedroom. That won't play well in South Carolina.
Could care less about any of these clowns. Just hope SC voters show their discust in the system by voting for Cain AKA Colbert.
Posted By: Guest#4262 (Guest) on January 19, 2012 at 04:07 PM
Santorum is next..
Posted By: Guest#5567 (Guest) on January 19, 2012 at 05:19 PM
Go, Newt, go! He has too much pride to roll over for a Massachusetts Moderate. The stuff about his wife won't hurt that much, GOPers will just see it as the "liberal media" trying to take down another conservative.
Posted By: Cassie Laraway (Guest) on January 19, 2012 at 05:59 PM
Obama isn't perfect, but he's still better than all these goofs.
Posted By: Guest#9961 (Guest) on January 19, 2012 at 05:59 PM
Republicans must be idiots. Or they secretly want Obama to win or something.
Posted By: Guest#8151 (Guest) on January 19, 2012 at 06:24 PM
Got to love how, when they have to reject Romney because he's a two faced, out of touch, vulture capitalist, they turn to Gingrich. It tells you a lot about the electorate.
Here's a drinking game: drink every time Gingrich, a guy who sells himself by his PhD in history, who has been a career politician since 1974, who was outsted by his own party from his role as Speaker of the House due to ethics scale, who worked as a healthcare lobbyist for much to the 2000's, who had a half-million credit account at Tiffany's... this is the guy accusing others of Elitism. It's like Justin Beiber complaining about syrupy over-produced slightly effeminate teenage pop acts.
Posted By: Guest#1732 (Guest) on January 19, 2012 at 07:09 PM
Negative ads are nothing new.... but I'm cracking up at how much these guys are going after each other.
What are you going to do if you DON'T get the nomination? Suddenly tell all your followers that they should vote for the guy you've been demonizing in the press for the past six months? That you didn't really MEAN all the nasty crap you spread about him?
I mean, if you were up for promotion at work, and you spent all your time slagging your biggest competitor, then lost the promotion to him, THEN went back to all your co-workers and asked them to get in line and now support the other guy... you'd probably be thought of as a giant DOUCHE, if not laughed right out of the office.
But it's OK when these turds do it, because "those are the rules of politics...."
Actually, it says more about their character than anything else..... it shows they have no integrity or dignity: they'll play dirty then smile and pretend all is good if it'll help their party win in the end.
I'm sure all the hardcores are ready to defend them all, but be honest with yourself: you wouldn't associate with a person that acted like that in your circle. Then again, maybe you would.... I know a lot of you would vote for him anyway.
Posted By: MDG Lite (Guest) on January 19, 2012 at 07:33 PM
Go, Newt, go! He has too much pride to roll over for a Massachusetts Moderate. The stuff about his wife won't hurt that much, GOPers will just see it as the "liberal media" trying to take down another conservative.
Posted By: Cassie Laraway (Guest) on January 19, 2012 at 05:59 PM
Have you actually listened to anything Gingrich actually said? Read his record? The only person going after Gingrich is Gingrich...
Posted By: Guest#0820 (Guest) on January 19, 2012 at 07:46 PM
STAY CURRENT