Newt won his second South Carolina debate in a row.
Politico has Newt Gingrich seven points behind Romney among likely voters at 30%. After tonight’s debate, Gingrich may close that gap further. Romney floundered once again on the issue of his tax returns. He took a beating on both Romneycare and abortion. His confidence seems diminished.
Meanwhile Newt has this incredible way of segueing between attacks on Obama and attacks on Romney. Once again Newt is showing off his debating skills and his ability to sound reasonable while saying seriously crazy things all at the same time. His arrogance is galling but the crowd loves him.
I personally loved how Ron Paul took the issue of government healthcare and segued into military spending. He was the only one of the four who seemed to actually care that real people do actually depend on government benefits whether or not he believes in those programs.
Santorum did fine, but he didn’t rile up the crowd. He’s very good at sounding sincere. He has a certain maudlin folksiness to him that the GOP base enjoys. But they enjoy Newt more. Santorum rambles, Newt cuts right to the quick. Romney was on the defense almost all night, even in his pleas for Republican unity. Newt managed to call for unity while going on the offense.
This was a bad night for Romney and another win for Newt. Paul wasn’t at his best, but it doesn’t really matter. South Carolina is obviously not Paul territory. The real question is whether this and the last debate can propel Newt into fighting territory against Romney. The former Massachusetts governor has never looked so weak.
As Andrew Sullivan notes, “Every minute he speaks about this in this forum he loses votes.” Can Romney lose the electability race to Gingrich – a man who is on his third marriage, spent years lobbying for the housing industry just before the crash, and wracked up an absurd credit line at Tiffany’s?
It’s almost inconceivable.
But the Bain Capital record isn’t going anywhere. There’s something fishy about these tax returns and Romney’s inability to just release them to the public. Something is rotten.
The difference between Romney and Gingrich is that we’re all pretty sure we know the details of Gingrich’s dirty laundry by now. Even his ex-wife’s tell-all interview isn’t going to shine any new light on the former speaker.
Romney, on the other hand, remains something of a closed book. I bet that makes some voters nervous.
The devil you know can be a comfortable vote, and at this point I think a lot of conservatives are taking a second look at Gingrich whose warts they’ve basically come to terms with. His response to the accusations leveled at him by his ex-wife on ABC had the audience in a standing ovation, effectively turning a damning revelation into just another reason to go after the mainstream media.
One has to admire Gingrich’s tenacity at moments like these even if 90% of what he says is absolute garbage.
We know who Newt Gingrich is – but what lies beneath Romney’s slick exterior? Republicans can’t be certain. Will it give them pause this Saturday in South Carolina?
Update. Josh Marshall describes Gingrich’s performance and especially his broadside against debate moderator John King quite well:
It all started (and in a sense ended) with Newt’s ferocious broadside against John King for raising the “open marriage” story. The whole thing was a put-up job in reality. But for his intended audience, it was a masterstroke. And it was classic Newt. Take the mammoth offensive whether you have a leg to stand on or not and just go with it. It turned the whole thing into an outrage drama against the “mainstream media.” The cynicism of Newt’s tirade was on display post-debate when he complimented King for doing a great job moderating the debate. But again, doesn’t matter. He nailed it. That set the tone for the debate, virtually ensured that no one would touch the issue for the next two hours and instantly drew off all the Newt-tension hovering over the debate.
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I disagree. I think Ron Paul did very well tonight. And, I think Newt fizzled out; Santorum was sanctimonious, as usual; and Romney did very well also.
Well look, I always think Paul does well so I have to check my bias in at the door. Judging by the crowd, I think Newt took the night. Romney had his moments, but he got eaten alive again on the tax returns and Romneycare.
I think Romney got some good ones in there – the one about not needing Newt and the government to help him out in business for 25 years while Newt was Speaker for four years – was pretty good. He had a couple of other good lines. I’m not really fond of Newt – not that I like Romney, but he’s better than Newt. It’s all so subjective.
Maybe because I thought Paul did so poorly the other night, tonight seemed a big improvement. But, you’re right. I am very biased toward him.
Although I did not see the CNN debate, I did see the previous one, and I think Bill Clinton, Obama and most Democrats fear a Gingrich candidate rather than a RINO Romney candidate. Romney governed to the Left for abortion, the Radical Homosexual Agenda including Pride Days and being the Father of Homosexual Marriage in America, all the while running for the 2008 GOP nomination sounding like a Conservative. Romney ran to the Left of Ted Kennedy and called himself a Progress, all the while repudiating the Reagan Revolution, which Newt Gingrich helped to REINSTATE. causing even Leftist Bill Clinton to govern to the RIGHT on Welfare Reform and balanced budgets. Newt worked with both Reagan and Clinton to get over 20 million new jobs created through an atmosphere of pro-business policies. This is what Bill Clinton was sent out to do: defeat Gingrich who can beat Obama, for Romney, who CANNOT WIN, since true Conservatives won’t vote for a fraud that will continue this country down the road to Sodom and Gomorrah that Barack Hussein Obama, the Democrats and RINOS have put this country on. Go Newt!” 777denny
As an Obama supporter, I’d like to endorse this.
Yes, Republicans, by all means, please, please, please don’t throw us in the Gingrich briar patch.
The last thing we’d want Obama to have to run against is a megalomaniac who thinks he’s running for Caesar, not President, and who tells the most laugh-inducing, easily-debunked lies imaginable.
I mean, we couldn’t possibly stand up to the sheer awesomeness of an “anti-elitist” candidate who’s a former Speaker of the House, has a half-million dollar line of credit at Tiffany’s and flies private jets everywhere he goes. Or a guy who freaks out every time someone asks about his own marital infidelities after being the guy who led the mob against Clinton and Lewinsky in the 90s.
I beg you: Whatever you do, don’t make Newt the nominee. Think of the children…
An Obama v Gingrich race would result in O having a bigger victory then over McCain. Please nominate Gingrich.
Most definely.
After this week I give Newt better than even odds of winning South Carolina, which is just hilarious.
Mitt’s had a very, very bad week, and Newt has been flinging out red meat by the truckload. His anti-media/anti-Obama/anti-Romney shtick is classic Bluto from Animal House.
“Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor!!?!”
While Santorum and Paul did well this go round, I think Newt won himself the South Carolina primary with this debate. It hit all the right pandering points and echoed the righteous anger of the Tea Party.
Mitt shot himself in the foot by answering “maybe” to the question of releasing several tax returns like his father did in the 1960s. It was a wormy answer given by a guy who has a reputation for being wormy. If he doesn’t get the whole Bain capital, tax return thing under control, it could well kill his candidacy. He looks ever more duplicitous as time goes on.
All the candidates at there best can take out Odumma just on his horrible record as president, newt however can do it wit ease and cut odumma off at the knees and send him packing, His debate skills are like no others since Reagan. he is fast on the draw hit deadly shots and will not stop till he has totaaly taken the skin off the other person. perfect to go against the biggest lair ever to take the oath of office
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