Mitt Romney is in deep doo doo after South Carolina.
Moderates by their very nature are never as enthused as those further to the right or left of the political spectrum.
Thereby lies Mitt Romney's greatest fear, as he surveys the damage down to him by Newt Gingrich in South Carolina.
Like Dracula, Newt keeps rising from the dead and by now Romney must dread to hear the footsteps as the race continues.
The exit polling showed Gingrich cleaned up with Tea Party, evangelical and arch-conservative voters.
These are precisely the people that Romney has struggled with from Day One.
Romney's problem is that they provide the core of the vote in very many states, especially in the south.
If Gingrich wins Florida which I think he will, Romney is suddenly in trouble.
Romney is George Bush Senior in this race, nice, moderate, well liked but not loved or trusted.
No matter how hard he tries he is never going to throw off the shackles of the fact that he was a pretty moderate governor in Massachusetts.
Gingrich on the other hand has become the flame thrower, winning every debate and throwing raw meat on the fire at every opportunity.
The GOP grassroots love it.
The party establishment hate it.
They fear that Gingrich cannot beat Obama and only Romney can.
They may be right but their grassroots will decide this GOP winner not them.
Right now you'd have to say its looking like 50/50 -- astonishing when you consider the media had handed the victory to Romney after New Hampshire.
In fact I'd say advantage Gingrich.
Game on!
16 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.GeorgeDillon | Jan 23, 2012, 07:33 PM EST
michaelidaho: I'm hearing this line about a "moderate" third party since I was a teenager. The first election I got involved in, even tho I was too young to vote, was the Democratic primary of 1980. I canvassed for Teddy Kennedy. That was the year that John Anderson, a guy who hadn't won one state in the Republican primaries, decided to run a campaign just as you describe--a "moderate" Third Party. He got nowhere, and didn't deserve to. Some years later, Ross Perot pulled the same stunt.
michaelidaho | Jan 23, 2012, 12:58 PM EST
This is a defining moment for the Republicans. If Newt wins the nomination, it will mean the Southernization of the party has been completed. Unfortunately, it will also mean the re-election of Obama. Perhaps, it could pave the way for a third party comprised of common-sense pragmatists and moderates, not held hostage by the fringes of either mainline parties. Hopefully, in the end cooler heads and common sense will prevail and Romney will get the nomination.
michaelidaho | Jan 23, 2012, 10:16 AM EST
Fair catch Dillon - an unintentional misspelling. Newt a canon, now that would be something to behold.
awoken32 | Jan 23, 2012, 05:25 AM EST
How the hell did Gingrich win the South Carolina primary when just the day before he had to cancel a major campaighn stop because of lack of attendance????? like i said before he is in the pockets of the power elite,like come on who would vote for a puppet with morals like that,like atleast obama was a good actor,but Ging RICH??? nah its quiet funny when you become awoken to the system an its fake democracy of elections,the power elite controll both sides,its the same mask with differant faces attached,WAKE UP PEOPLE ITS ALL RIGGED,THE ONLY CANDIDATE THAT IS NOT CONTROLLED BY THE SYSTEM IS RON PAUL =REAL PERSON,THAT IS WHY THE SYSTEM IS AGAINST THE MAN,AS HE IS FOR THE PEOPLE AN NOT THE CORRUPTED SYSTEM THAT THE POWER ELITE HAVE CREATED
GeorgeDillon | Jan 23, 2012, 04:54 AM EST
"Gingrich is a very loose canon on the deck"---TomSwinford, Gingrich may be a late arrival Catholic, but to my knowledge he has yet to take holy orders. I suspect you mean "cannon".
trconnors | Jan 22, 2012, 08:22 PM EST
right meggy. he stands up for swingers. what a loving , trusting husband and father. All I know for sure is he is more intelligent than you and your s. carolina counterparts. wheres strom when we need him
MegK311 | Jan 22, 2012, 07:26 PM EST
Anyone of the presidental candidates would be better than Obama. I like Newt, he has vision and he is very intelligent, he knows his history and he is not afraid to stand up for what he believes.
trconnors | Jan 22, 2012, 06:46 PM EST
way to go newtie & s. carolina, you sure put those uppity minorities in their place. the country is so proud of you. way to get us back to the 20th century. thank God for you religous and family value freaks !!!!!
Scrivner | Jan 22, 2012, 05:09 PM EST
Seems like everyone is piling on Newt for his serial sexual 'scapades (SSS), as if this would make him a bad head of state. Let's evaluate some of our Presidents in the light of history: -G.W. Bush, for all his faults no one can say that he cheated on Laura, but would you say that he achieved greatness? Thought so. -Bill Clinton, the poster boy for horndogs seemed to have an ok presidency when he saw the error of pushing national healthcare and raising taxes (with a little help from Newt as Speaker of the House). -Ronald Reagan, the patron saint of conservatives was the first divorced man to hold the office, but he did bring the country out of depression, reformed welfare, revised and simplified the tax code. -Jimmy Carter, pious and ineffective. Felt tremendous guilt about even thinking of another woman besides his wife, but should have felt more guilt over ruining the country's economy (can you say "stag-flation?) -Gerald Ford, nice guy but had a hard row to hoe with the aftermath of Watergate and never had any rumors about being unfaithful to Betty. -Richard Nixon, no sexual misdeeds, but introduced the world to the term "Watergate." No politician since has invoked his memory. So, my friends, perhaps the Presidency requires someone who is not like you or me. Someone who is assertive with bold ideas and values the liberties that our founders forged in the furnace of revolution. Someone who will tell us what he means by hope and change. Someone who carries the scars of doing battle with the powerful. Someone just like Newt.
Scrivner | Jan 22, 2012, 02:45 PM EST
James Petigru, a South Carolina congressman, famously said in 1860 as his state seceded from the Union and commenced the bloody horror of the Civil War, "South Carolina is too small to be a republic and too big to be an insane asylum." While it is unlikely to achieve the former, it continues to make steady progress toward the latter. Nut Gingrich is a very loose canon on the deck of USS America. Undisciplined, unpredictable and unprincipled, we would do well to keep this man far from the levers of nuclear armageddon. A fellow republican described him as "a high speed blender without the top on." He is also truly mean-spirited and vindictive - note well that face when it is raging - Ahmadinejad when railing against the U.S. comes to mind - hardly the qualities we would want in a president. Of course, if he does win the nomination (still unlikely in my opinion) the Republican Party establishment will be in panic mode for they know all too well that Gingrich would be easily defeated in the general election, come November - because the country, at large, remains relatively sane.
Nicomax | Jan 22, 2012, 12:59 PM EST
The irony is the Mitt of Mass would have a good chance of winning the whole thing, but that Mitt is anathema to the radicals running the GOP right now.
patrickesq | Jan 22, 2012, 11:32 AM EST
South Carolina would probably still elect Strom Thurmond, if he were still alive. Newt will not past muster nationally with his extreme right rhetoric. Bashing the federal government may sell well in S.Carolina but not too many other places!
seagreen | Jan 22, 2012, 11:21 AM EST
Newt...How dare you mention my philandering, serving my cancer stricken wife with divorce papers while lying in a hospital bed. My $500,000 bill at Tiffany's. None of your business ! Playing offspring and ex wives against any accusation. Lets talk about Patriotism. Lets bomb Iran and anyone else that does not see things our way. We have another group of maturing young men that can be sacrificed in order to show how much we care about America, and also to keep the war profiteers and their stockholders flush...... Just because Mitt and I , and none of Romney's five sons have served does not mean we are not with you in mind and spirit !! And yes, Pres Obama keep those Drones flying. Lets see how many sheepherders, women and children (high ranking Al Qaida members) we can take out. Such wonderful leaders ! Just wish Benny Hill were still alive to do Gingrich impersonations
Murph46 | Jan 22, 2012, 10:47 AM EST
Anybody but O'Bummer!
CitizenWhy | Jan 22, 2012, 10:32 AM EST
Newt's Republican Family Values: Using the daughters of his first wife to convince people that his second wife is lying about his third wife. ... P.S. The two daughters of his first wife are making BIG money off Newt's Presidential run. So are they disinterested parties?
GeorgeDillon | Jan 22, 2012, 05:16 AM EST
I thought Ron Paul did pretty good, given that South Carolina Republicans tend not to be freedom-loving peace and prosperity types. Rather are they often Bible Bums who spend three hours in church on a Sunday and whoop and holler for American participation in foreign wars on a Monday. (I know them, I live in the neighborhood). Expect Paul to do even better in some of the Western caucuses that are coming up, where voters don't necessarily think that the bomb and the bullet are the solution to every foreign policy problem.