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January 22nd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
Having had his Iowa caucus win overturned on recount, Mr Romney has gone
within days from being poised to clinch a historic third victory to having
only the primary in New Hampshire – his neighbouring state, which he was
always expected to win – to his name.
After mounting one of the most remarkable comebacks in US presidential
election history, Mr Gingrich, who won 41 per cent of the vote in South
Carolina, on Sunday set the stage for a vicious, protracted contest between
a “Reagan populist conservative” and an “establishment
candidate” favoured by the “elites of Washington and New York”.
“I think Floridians would like somebody who speaks for them to
Washington, not somebody who speaks for the establishment to them,” Mr
Gingrich told a television interview.
Republican strategists fear that he may now inflict damage on Mr Romney that
could be fatal in a general election.
Supporters of Mr Gingrich, 68, were quick to point out that the winner of
South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary has gone on to win the
party’s nomination in every election since 1980.
However the result means that for the first time, three different Republican
presidential hopefuls have won Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. It
reflects a divided party that Mr Romney is struggling to unite behind him.
Mr Romney holds an 11-point lead in Florida opinion polls, according to an
average by RealClearPolitics. His vastly superior finances – having raised
$56.6 million in 2011 compared to Mr Gingrich’s $11.9 million – will allow
him to launch an overwhelming media campaign. He is also on the Republican
ballot in every state, while Mr Gingrich did not qualify in Virginia.
A political action group backing Mr Romney has already begun spending millions
of dollars reminding voters in Florida – the so-called “ground
zero” of the US housing meltdown – that Mr Gingrich was paid $1.6
million (£1 million) consulting for Freddie Mac, the government-backed
lender at the centre of the mortgage crisis.
Mr Romney showed he had abandoned a policy of remaining above the party fray
by attacking Mr Gingrich in his concession speech for using the “weapons
of the Left”.
He said: “If Republican leaders want to join this president in demonising
success and disparaging conservative values, then they’re not going to be
fit to be our nominee.”
High-profile Romney backers are also expected to risk drawing further
attention to Mr Gingrich’s troubled personal life. Mr Gingrich’s South
Carolina win came after a strident debate performance last Thursday, when he
received a standing ovation for dismissing claims from his ex-wife Marianne
that he requested an “open marriage” in 1999 as “despicable”.
He will now move to lure supporters of Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania
senator who finished third, and Ron Paul, the Texas congressman, who
finished fourth. Both have vowed to fight on, making it harder for Mr
Gingrich to close Mr Romney’s lead.
In another setback to Mr Gingrich, more than 200,000 Floridians – about 10 per
cent of expected turnout – have already voted via early or absentee ballots.
He won in South Carolina by securing the support of 44 per cent of the more
than half South Carolina voters who made their choice in the last few days
of campaigning – almost twice as many as Mr Romney.
However, he also appeared to have defeated Mr Romney’s claim to be uniquely “electable”
in a year when determination to oust Mr Obama is the top priority for many
Republicans. Mr Gingrich won 49 per cent of such voters in South Carolina,
while 41 per cent backed Mr Romney.
The former Massachusetts governor’s Mormon faith also harmed his result in a
state where 65 per cent of voters told exit pollsters they were evangelical
or born-again Christians. He won 19 per cent of voters who said candidates’
religious beliefs mattered, 46 per cent of whom backed Mr Gingrich.
Unhelpfully, Mr Romney, who has struggled to convince struggling Americans
that he knows their pain, also won only one income bracket – those earning
more than $200,000 (£129,000) a year. Mr Gingrich, who won 43 of the state’s
46 counties, led in every other wage category.
The scale of his victory means that Mr Gingrich was awarded 23 of South
Carolina’s 25 delegates in the party’s national electoral college. Mr Romney
received the other two.
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