As I’m sure you know by now, Newt Gingrich has won the South Carolina GOP primary, and did so decisively. Now, Santorum, Romney, and Gingrich all may claim victory in one state. While the winner of South Carolina has gone on to win the nomination in every GOP primary since 1980, each of those winners also won either Iowa or New Hampshire. We truly have a toss-up race at this juncture.
It was expected that Newt Gingrich would give Romney a tough race in South Carolina, but nobody was expecting Gingrich to win by over 75,000 votes and 12%. It’s interesting to note that his second wife’s comments which many thought would ruin his election hopes, didn’t have a negative impact. He handled questions about the issue so well, most notably in the debate, he diffused any crash that could have happened and even seemed to benefit from being the center of attention.
Gingrich will pick up quite a bit of momentum from this strong win, but as Karl Rove explained, let’s not mistake this victory for a historic blowout, as the average margin of victory in South Carolina’s GOP primary is 17%. The only piece of history from today’s win is that this is the first time we’ve had a different winner in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Romney still holds the most delegates at the moment, which in the end will decide the nominee.
Santorum looks on. He’ll need a respectable performance in Florida so he can go on to what he calls “neutral turf” with sufficient momentum, and more importantly, the resources to compete.
In Newt Gingrich’s victory speech he spoke harshly about what another term with President Obama would be like, asking America to “imagine how radical he would be in a second term.”
He stood up for those of faith in our country saying, “one issue is the growing anti-religious bigotry of our elites.” He more specifically referenced a judge in San Antonio who threatened to jail any superintendent who allowed a school to use the words “invocation,” “benediction,” or “God,” recite a public prayer, or hold a moment of silence in a graduation ceremony.
Even after racial criticism for calling President Obama the “best food stamp president,” Newt refused to relent, asserting that “historically, President Obama has been the best food stamp president in American history…I want to be the best pay check president in American history.”
He also touched on America’s lack of energy independence, an issue on which President Obama is particularly vulnerable. “I want America to become so energy independent that no American president ever again bows to a Saudi king,” referencing a moment early in Obama’s presidency on a trip to Saudi Arabia. He continued by promising to authorize sequestration of our natural resources on day one. He then criticized President Obama for stopping the Keystone Pipeline which would have created jobs through the building of the pipeline, the maintenance for the pipeline, and the refining of the oil, and explained why President Obama did so “…because Barack Obama is taking care of his left-wing friends in San Francisco.”
What’s your take on Newt Gingrich’s big win?
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My take is that South Carolinians really don’t understand what’s at stake, but I dare say, neither does the rest of the country when it will be either Romney or Gingrich in the end.
Why do we continue to vote in “business as usual” and the “worse of two evils”, why don’t we have the conviction to say we don’t want any of you. Congress is at something like 15% approval, they aren’t listening to us. Obozo is hell bent on totally destroying this country, and I agree with Newt, if he’s elected for another term what unrepairable damage can he do. What does a man do that hates America and has nothing left to lose?
On a different note, did you ever go to Paw’s Diner when you lived in Clemson?
Newt would have much less of a chance against Obama in a general election. He showed a lack of integrity when he attacked Romney over Bain. Either that or he’s not that conservative, because those are liberal attacks.
Paw Diner is stellar. It’s really unhealthy, but delicious. One of my favorite restaurants in Clemson.
Newt Gingrich ran a good campaign in South Carolina. However, I don’t think he will hold up. He is rather volitile emotionally with vulnerabilities in his record as well. I prefer Senator Rick Santorum who has been a consistent conservative who also doesn’t have the “baggage” of Newt.
I agree with you Reuben. Santorum’s only flaws are his support of unions and his high negatives. I think he would make the best President, but Romney would have the best chance against Obama.