Romney battles to hold off Gingrich
With South Carolina’s critical primary today, Gingrich appeared to have gained vast ground on Romney, and South Carolina’s Senator Jim DeMint declared it a “two-man race.” Santorum insisted he’s still part of the equation and that he’s finally drawing enough campaign contributions to compete aggressively in Florida and beyond.
Rick Perry’s departure from the race, a raucous Charleston debate and fresh reminders of Gingrich’s tumultuous personal life promised to make the dash to today’s voting frenetic and the intra-party attacks increasingly sharp.
But Republican Party chairman Reince Preibus insisted the tone wasn’t all that negative and said “a little bit of drama” was good for the GOP as it sorts out the strongest challenger to Obama.
The GOP race spun wildly this week, beginning with news that Santorum had edged Romney in Iowa, a reversal of the first nominating contest more than two weeks past.
Perry, having struggled in vain to build support in his native South, quit and endorsed Gingrich. Gingrich, meanwhile, faced stunning new allegations from an ex-wife that he had sought an open marriage before their divorce. An aggressive debate then followed.
Santorum played aggressor during the face-off, trying to inject himself into what seemed increasingly like a Romney-Gingrich race after Perry’s endorsement of his onetime rival.
“Newt’s not perfect, but who among us is,” Perry said in backing Gingrich. “The fact is, there is forgiveness for those who seek God and I believe in the power of redemption, for it is a central tenet of my own Christian faith.”
Gingrich angrily denounced the news media for putting his ex-wife front and centre in the final days of the race and spreading her accusations that he sought an open marriage after he was caught cheating on her. “Let me be clear, the story is false,” he said when asked at the opening of the debate about her interview.
Santorum, Romney and Paul steered clear of the controversy.
“Let’s get onto the real issues, that’s all I’ve got to say,” said Romney, although he pointed out that he and his wife, Ann, have been married for 42 years.
Gingrich and Santorum challenged Romney over his opposition to abortion, a well-documented shift but a potent one in evangelical-heavy South Carolina.
Recent polls, coupled with Perry’s endorsement, suggested Gingrich was the candidate with the momentum and Romney the one struggling to validate his standing as front-runner.
Gingrich released his income tax records during the course of the debate, paving the way to discussing Romney’s. The wealthy former venture capitalist has said he will release them in April, prompting Gingrich to suggest that would be too late for voters to decide if they presented evidence Obama could exploit.
“If there’s anything that’s in there that’s going to help us lose the election we should know before the election. If there’s not, why not release it?” Gingrich said. His effective tax rate, roughly 31.6% of his adjusted income, was about double what Romney told reporters earlier this week he had paid.
Gingrich grappled with problems of a different, possibly even more crippling sort in a state where more than half the Republican electorate is evangelical.
Marianne Gingrich told ABC’s Nightline that her ex-husband had wanted an “open marriage” so he could have both a wife and a mistress. She said Gingrich conducted an affair with Callista Bistek, now his wife, “in my bedroom in our apartment in Washington” while she was elsewhere. “He was asking to have an open marriage and I refused,” she said.
When asked about the issue by debate moderator, John King of CNN, Gingrich snapped: “I’m appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that.” His response prompted huge applause and audience support suggested his chances of winning South Carolina might be much better than only four days ago.
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