His poll numbers tanking just a few days ago, Newt Gingrich has risen from the political graveyard to score a smashing win in the South Carolina primary conducted today. Political pundits have been referring to him as Lazarus risen from the dead after today's tremendous win.
Gingrich didn't win by just a few points, he out scored his closest competitor, Mitt Romney by 13 points, or 74,000 votes. He beat 3rd place finisher Rick Santorum by 23 points and last place finisher Ron Paul by 27 points.
It also looks like Newt will have swept every county in South Carolina, thereby capturing every delegate that the State had up for grabs, truly stunning. It gives Gingrich great momentum & great fund raising ability heading into the Florida primary only ten days from now.
Mitt Romney had entered the South Carolina primary as the odds on favorite after winning New Hampshire. He even had the full endorsement and backing of Governor Niki Haley, who actively campaigned for him. Newt on the other hand had come in a distant 4th in New Hampshire and there was talk that it might be all over for him if he didn't get a good showing in South Carolina. So Gingrich chose to work hard and run a spirited campaign throughout the state.....Then came the evening of January 16, when South Carolina held it's 1st of 2 debates and Newt was on fire.
The first debate was the turning point for him in this race when he was able to capture the imaginations of many voters in South Carolina and America by showing he would be capable of standing toe to toe with Obama to defeat him in the debate arena and the arena of ideas. Shortly after this debate Governor Perry dropped out of the race and put his name behind Newt.
That debate gave Gingrich rising popularity and poll numbers throughout the state and unbelievably it looked like he was overtaking Romney. So to counter that the long political knives came out again for Gingrich and the negative attacks began. Millions in PAC money came out against him in attack ads. But the people of South Carolina had seen something in Newt Gingrich and weren't going to be swayed by television ads.
But laying in wait to steal victory from his grasp, ABC had a bombshell to throw at Gingrich. They had interviewed his ex-wife and were going to air it the night of the last debate, 2 days before the election. The ex Mrs. Gingrich was known to have ill will towards her ex husband and tawdry details were expected.
Right out of the gate at the debate that night,the moderator, licking his chops, confronted Gingrich about the forthcoming interview. Never at a loss for words Gingrich completely turned the tables on the moderator cutting him to pieces and by the end of the tirade, the moderator and media in general were the culprits.
The ex wife's interview was aired later that evening. She said some negative things about Newt, but people understand this and marriages end, sometimes happily, but most times not. The voters of South Carolina didn't seem to be affected by the interview, in fact some of them probably felt more inclined to vote for Gingrich because of the dirty tricks they felt were directed at Newt by the media.
Newt Gingrich was gracious with his victory speech tonight, he praised his fellow candidates and spoke of his vision for America with a positive view of our country. However he did not hold back in his criticism of President Obama and the direction he has steered our country and refers to President Obama as the food stamp President. Gingrich says he offers America a clear choice between himself and Obama by putting America back to work with good paychecks.
His first plan of action to get America back to work, is to get us energy independent by exploiting our own resources. His goal is that no future American president will ever again have to bow to a Saudi King.
Looking forward to the rumble in Florida, a whole new game. Next debate will be Monday evening January 23, in Tampa.
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