Ladies and Gentlemen we got ourselves a race! Newt Gingrich and his campaign for the Republican Nomination for the Presidency notched its first victory Saturday night. The former House Speaker decimated the other candidates in the South Carolina primary.
There is a dual significance to the victory in South Carolina. This was the first primary in the South. This is where the candidates with the best conservative credentials tend to shine. This is really important because conservatives have yet to rally around frontrunner Mitt Romney, and if Gingrich can show that he is not only electable but the Reagan Conservative he claims to be it may be enough for him to beat Romney in all the states that really matter.
Secondly, this shows that the Republican base is not so concerned with a lot of the baggage that Gingrich brings to the table. Just this week, Gingrich’s second wife gave an interview where she claimed that he had asked her to have “an open marriage”, rhat is the ability to sleep with multiple partners.
The allegations didn’t seem to phase the electorate who wound up giving Gingrich more than 40% of the vote. Romney finished with 28%, Rick Santorum finished with 17% and Ron Paul with 13%.
No candidate has won more than one state at this point. Rick Santorum won Iowa and Romney won New Hampshire.
Mitt Romney has not had such a good week. He was expected to cruise to a victory in South Carolina after winning both the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire Primary. Yet this week Iowa officials announced that the official results gave the win to Rick Santorum (Romney had originally been thought to win by 8 votes) and with Gingrich’s victory in South Carolina many are questioning whether Romney can actually win.
Many conservatives are uncomfortable with Romney’s moderate views, Christians are not particularly comfortable with Romney’s Mormon faith and more and more Romney’s image of being out of touch with everyday Americans is starting to take its toll.
Who do you think will win the Republican Nomination? Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney ?
Watch Newt Gingrich’s Primary Victory Speech!
