There’s a lot of action in South Carolina right now, where the tide seems once again to be turning against Mitt Romney. Nate Silver of Five Thirty Eight and The New York Times now sees Newt Gingrich as the clear frontrunner for Saturday’s primary based on his polling model. National trends show the race tightening as well, as Romney continues to take heat from all sides for his personal wealth, career at Bain Capital and refusal to release his tax returns.
The frontrunner stumbled through much of last night’s debate, seemingly unprepared for questions his campaign should have known were coming. The real story last night wasn’t Romney though – it was the return of the angry, backed-into-a-corner Gingrich that worked so well a few months ago. Newt’s full-throated takedown of CNN’s John King, the moderator in last night’s Republican debate, was inspired in its brutality, calling King’s question about reports of Gingrich’s ex-wife claiming he asked for an open marriage “as close to despicable as anything I can imagine.”
Here’s the clip:
This video is like a playbook on how to reach into the hearts of true conservative voters. Newt goes on the offensive, attacking the media and anyone who would dare to think his ex-wife’s comments are newsworthy. Since Mitt Romney won big in New Hampshire, the narrative has been that he has the race won.
A loss in South Carolina was perhaps to be expected. But now with Newt surging, conservative competitors like Michele Bachman and Rick Perry gone, and Romney taking heavy fire, the question you have to ask is – what if Mitt gets absolutely blown out tomorrow? What happens then?
Posted by Philip Swibinski
