Jew World Order

Mr Perry may have looked like a president but he could not debate or think on
his feet like one – an immediate disqualification against a big-brain such
as Barack Obama.

His stump speeches were typically rambling and poorly worded, while one
particularly loose performance in New Hampshire led some present to
speculate he was drunk.

He entered the campaign late but high hopes and the support of other
governors, senators and wealthy businessmen needed to jump-start a bid.

Mr Perry was in his third term as governor of Texas, a state that, as he
never failed to remind an audience, was the 13th largest economy in the
world. He boasted a record of creating jobs – although many were poorly paid
– while the rest of the country struggled with recession. A born-again
Christian, he was conservative enough to satisfy the party’s activist base,
while his up-from-the-bootstraps biography was perfect presidential material.

19.00 (14.00) The Atlantic has undertaken a valiant piece of public
service journalism by gathering the high school yearbook
photos of most of the candidates. Would you guess this young man
would one day go on to win the Iowa caucuses?

–

18.10 (13.12) Santorum has taken news of his delayed win in Iowa with a
rueful sense of humour but he notes that Romney’s sense of inveitability has
been “shattered”. That’s probably a bit much.

18.00 (13.01) Romney’s campaign have been serving up an unrelenting
feast of surrogates to trash Gingrich’s record as Speaker of the House.
Here’s a nibble:

Here’s a particularly tough quote from Michigan Congressman Peter King:

We had well over 218 Republicans in the Congress when Newt was the Speaker,
and you can’t find more than a handful who will come to his defense. And it
has nothing to do with ideology, nothing to do with philosophy, it’s all the
erratic, self-serving narcissism of Newt.

17.55 (12.55) Our own Tim Stanley has this take on what has been the
most exciting morning in Republican politics in weeks.

With Perry out of the race, conservative votes are now going to coalesce
around either Gingrich or Santorum. With Palin’s backing, Gingrich is now
looking like the best candidate for anti-Romney voters to pick. According
to one poll, in two weeks, Romney has fallen from a 19 percent
statewide lead to just 10 points. He’s now at 33 percent, while Gingrich is
at 23. Santorum has 16 percent and Paul 13 percent.

All of this points to tonight’s debate being critical. We can expect
everyone to pile in on Romney, but with a little more moral force than
before. Santorum now has Iowa, Gingrich has Palin. South Carolina is wide
open again.

17.48 (12.48) Not everyone is taking the angry ex-wife story
seriously:

17.25 (12.25) The interview with Gingrich’s ex-wife Marianne
isn’t being broadcast until this evening but the choose tid bits are coming
out already. They focus not just on Newt’s infidelity but on his alleged
hypocrisy.

According to the former Mrs Gingrich, Newt asked her for a divorce in 1999, a
year after he was forced from the House and while he was making money giving
speeches on ethics and family values.

He allegedly called her as she was at her mother’s birthday party, flatly
asking for a divorce. She asked “Is there anybody else?” and he
reportedly didn’t answer immediately, which she took as an admission of
guilt.

The following day, Gingrich spoke to Republican Women Leaders Forum, where he
talked about the importance of ethics in America’s political history. “How
could he ask me for a divorce on Monday and within 48 hours give a speech on
family values and talk about how people treat people?” she asked during the ABC
interview.

^{Newt and Marianne Gingrich in happier times}

According to Marianne, they underwent marriage counselling, which is where
Gingrich asked again for an open marriage instead. She refused.

This is where she starts getting into the details that could sink him. She
claims Gingrich slept with Callista in their marriage bed and that he would
sometimes call Marianne to say he loved her as his lover sat in the room and
listened.

She also says he asked for a divorce soon after she was diagnosed with
Multiple Sclerosis, which doesn’t compare very well with Romney’s chivalrous
behaviour after his wife Ann was diagnosed with the same condition.

17.05 (12.10) The White House pool reports Obama has just landed in
Florida, where’s he on his way to Disney World to talk plans to boost
tourism. The goal may be worthy but political professionals are questioning
the visuals of a president already accused of being out of touch with
reality hanging out with Mickey Mouse. Here’s one take on the trip from Politifake:

–

16.55 (11.55) Indulge a political anorak moment here, I want to do a
little timeline of how Perry went from all guns blazing earlier this
week to falling quietly behind Newt today:

• His numbers have been terrible in South Carolina, rarely
climbing above five points, even though he skipped New Hampshire and went
straight there.

• On Monday he gave a fairly good performance in the Fox News
debate. While Washington scoffed at his claim that Turkey was run by
terrorists, the feeling was that he had connected with his southern
audience.

• But the polls showed his numbers still weren’t moving. This
leaves him a choice: go into tonight’s debate and risk getting into an
argument with someone you’re going to have to endorse later? The same
calculation led to Huntsman’s withdrawal on Monday.

• Sensing Perry was wavering, Gingrich’s campaign began a furious
lobbying campaign, according
to Politico. Newt apparently even texted Perry’s campaign manager
Joe Allbaugh personally.

• Last night the two met at an anti-abortion event in
Greenville, where they are believed to have discussed the endorsement.

• Perry made the final decision this morning and while he spoke
to Santorum, he was decided to stick with Newt. At 9.27am this morning his
campaign emailed reporters to schedule an unplanned press conference – the
death knell for primary campaigns.

16.45 (11.45) History will remember Perry as one of the greatest
underachievers presidential politics. The man entered the race with the wind
at his back and the sun on his face. He was the three-term, undefeated
governor of one of the largest and most successful states in the Union. He
had a compelling story of rising from humble roots in the heartland, serving
his country in the Air Force and then staking a claim to the White House.
His opposition consisted of various misfits and a wooden frontrunner, who
had none of Perry’s warmth charm and vigor.

And yet here we are: two miserable defeats, a withdrawal two days before South
Carolina and his most enduring legacy will be this:

16.40 (11.40) Jon Swaine had this take on Perry hanging up his spurs:

After an excruciating few months, Governor Rick Perry just gave a glimpse
of why he once raised such high hopes among Right-wing Republicans
determined to prevent Mitt Romney from becoming their presidential nominee.

“I ran for president because I love America,” he said, in a more
powerful articulation of his principles than he has managed in ages. “I
love our people, I love our freedom. Matter o’ fact this mission is greater
than one man.”

But then, aptly, his speech began to drag on and meander. “As a former
air force pilot, I don’t get confused,” he said, before promptly
appearing to forget what he was supposed to say next. The speech
encapsulated the infuriating paradox Mr Perry has presented: great on paper,
pretty lousy on the campaign trail.

16.37 (11.37) Gingrich is speaking in Beaufort now, with wife
Callista at his side, dressed in black and staring intently at him as she
always does. He says he watched the Perry endorsement from his campaign bus
and is “humbled and honoured” by his support.

Gingrich says he has asked the governor to head up a task force on state’s
rights. Not clear if he’s going to wait to be elected president before
setting the group up.

16.30 (11.30) As thrilled as Gingrich will be with the Perry nod, all
the attention in his camp is zeroed in on this interivew by his ex-wife Marianne
Gingrich. We’re expecting real fireworks and here’s one snippet: the
former speaker allegedly asked her if they could have an open marriage so he
could continue to see his then-mistress and now wife, Callista.

–

16.27 (11.27) As Perry rides off into the sunset, Romney finds
some nice words for the man he clearly loathed more than any other rival:

Rick Perry ran a campaign based upon love of country and conservative
principles. He has earned a place of prominence as a leader in our party and
I salute him for his commitment to making President Obama a one-term
president and finally getting our nation’s economy back on the right track.

16.10 (11.10) Here were go, Perry is on onstage in Charleston.

I ran for President because I love America, our people and our freedom.

But the mission is greater than the man. As I have traveled across this
great country: from New Hampshire to California, from Iowa to Florida, and
to numerous states in between, I have discovered a tremendous purpose and
resiliency in our people.

He has far warmer words for Newt Gingrich than Huntsman managed for Romney
earlier in the week.

Therefore, today I am suspending my campaign and endorsing Newt Gingrich
for president. I believe Newt is a conservative visionary who can transform
our country.

We have had our differences, which campaigns inevitably bring out. And Newt
is not perfect, but who among us is? 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.

And I have no question Newt Gingrich has the heart of a conservative
reformer, the ability to rally and captivate the conservative movement and
the courage to tell the Washington interests to take a hike if it’s what is
best for the country.

Newt is no afraid to tell Washington’s insiders to “take a hike”,
Perry says. He ends on a flourish:

We must rise rise to the occasion and elect a conservative champion to put
our nation back on the right track. This I know: I’m not done fighting for
the cause of conservativism, in fact I’ve just begun.

16.06 The Santorum camp has hailed the slim Iowa victory as
further evidence that Romney is not invincible. Spokesman Hogan Gidley said
in a statement:

We’ve had two early state contests with two winners – and the narrative that
governor Romney and the media have been touting of ‘inevitability’ has been
destroyed.

_{Piers Morgan interviews Jimmy Carter on CNN}

15.57 Jimmy Carter says Newt
Gingrich uses ‘subtlety of racism’:

Former president Jimmy Carter has accused Newt Gingrich of using subtly racist
language to appeal to the extreme right in South Carolina.

In a rare interview, Mr Carter said that his fellow Georgian was employing
a “subtlety of racism” that harked back to the time of segregation
in the Deep South.

“I think he has that subtlety of racism that I know quite well, and
that Gingrich knows quite well, that appeals to some people in Georgia –
particularly the right wing,” he told Piers Morgan in an interview on
CNN.

15.44 Jim Geraghty tweets:

15.32 Here is the first clip of the interview with Mr Gingrich’s ex-wife
Marianne during which she says she refused his request to have an open
marriage:

ABC
News clip of interview with Gingrich’s ex-wife

15.27 Perry’s biggest error came in a nationally televised debate in
early November, when he could not remember the name of the third Cabinet
department he pledged to eliminate.

“Oops,”
he said. Making fun of himself afterward, he told reporters: “I stepped
in it”

In just 53 seconds, a campaign that was already in trouble after previous
shaky debate performances by Mr Perry was plunged into crisis.

“It’s three agencies of government when I get there that are gone,
Commerce, Education and the, er, what’s the third one there? Let’s see…”
Mr Perry started to say, prompting suggestions from some of his rivals and
giggles in the audience.

Eventually he concluded: “I would do away with the Education, the Commerce
and – let’s see – I can’t. The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.”

Some 15 minutes later, Mr Perry said: “By the way, that was the
Department of Energy I was reaching for.”

15.18 Stephen Hayes tweets:

15.13 The four remaining candidates – Gingrich, Romney, Christian
conservative Rick Santorum and veteran Texas congressman Ron Paul – will
battle it out on Thursday night in the final South Carolina debate before
Saturday’s vote.

_{Mitt Romney will be in the firing line at tonight’s debate}

15.00 Mr Santorum received 29,839 votes, compared
with 29,805 for Mt Romney:

After a late night of vote counting following the January 3 caucuses Mr
Romney had been declared the victor, beating Mr Santorum by an unprecedented
razor-thin margin of eight votes, boosting the former Massachusetts
governor’s front-runner status.

14.55 The Republican Party on Thursday declared Rick Santorum
the winner of the Iowa caucuses, upending rival Mitt Romney who was
originally shown to have won the first-in-the-nation nomination vote two
weeks ago.

The certified vote count showed Santorum 34 votes ahead of Romney, in a sure
boost for the social conservative aiming to derail frontrunner Romney, but
the absolute final tally may never be known, as the Iowa Republican Party
reported that results from eight precincts in the Midwestern state were
missing.

_{Newt Gingrich with his third wife Callista}

14.52 Newt
Gingrich’s ex-wife Marianne has given an interview to ABC News that
she said could end the Republican presidential hopeful’s career, according
to reports:

The interview with Mr Gingrich’s wife of 18 years is set to air on Thursday
evening, two days before South Carolina holds its presidential primary.

“Her explosive revelations are set to rock the trail,” The Drudge
Report stated.

Mr Gingrich, 68, has been married three times. When he was 19, he married
Jackie Battley, his former teacher who was 26 at the time. He then married
Marianne Ginther in 1981 after having an affair with her.

14.48 Perry plans a news conference on Tuesday morning in South
Carolina, where he will announce his decision.

14.40 Perry has announced he is endorsing Newt Gingrich,
according to officials.

_{Rick Perry}

14.30 GMT (09.30 EST) Hello and welcome to our live rolling coverage of
the US Republican race on a day that has seen Rick Perry pull out,
Rick Santorum declared winner of Iowa after a recount and and interview with
Newt Gingrich’s wife set to air.

• South
Carolina Republican debate: as it happened January 16
• New Hampshire Republican primary: as it
happened January 11
• New
Hampshire Republican primary: as it happened January 10
• New
Hampshire Republican primary: as it happened January 9
• New Hampshire primary debate: as it happened
January 8
• New Hampshire primary debate: as it happened
January 7
• Iowa Republican primary: as it happened
January 4
• Iowa
Republican primary: as it happened January 3
• Iowa
Republican primary: as it happened January 2

Here is our team covering the US elections: