US Election 2012: Newt Gingrich victorious in South Carolina

“The choice within our party has come into sharp focus. The president has
never run a business or led a state. Our party cannot be led to victory by
someone who’s never run a busines and never led a state,” he said.

“Those who pick up the weapons of the Left today will find them turned against
us tomorrow”.

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.

His win came after a strident performance in a televised debate on Thursday
night, when he furiously rejected allegations from his second wife,
Marianne, that he had asked for an “open marriage” in 1999.

He won a standing ovation and roars of approval for saying the media was “as
close to despicable as anything I can imagine” for airing Ms Gingrich’s
claims.

His surge in support began, however, after a strong performance in another
debate on Monday evening in Myrtle Beach, where he attacked Mr Romney for
his record as a private equity boss and for allowing his allies to broadcast
TV attack advertising against his rivals.

The surge intensified after Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas, withdrew from
the contest on Thursday and endorsed Mr Gingrich as a “conservative
visionary who can transform our country”.

Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who was finally declared the
winner of the Iowa caucus late on Friday, finished third in South Carolina.
Making clear he had no intention of leaving the race, his aides released a
schedule of campaign events in Florida next week. Ron Paul, the libertarian
Texas congressman, finished in fourth place.

Speaking earlier at his final rally, in a fast-food restaurant in Laurens, Mr
Gingrich urged supporters to “contact everyone you know in Florida” to help
him win the next contest. Margaret Thomas, 82, told The Daily Telegraph
that she would instruct her grandchildren in West Palm Beach and Miami to
get out the vote for Mr Gingrich. “Otherwise I will disown them,” she joked.

Mrs Thomas described Mr Gingrich as “a man of true integrity” with the ideas
to improve the US. “Mitt Romney is as empty as a walnut shell,” she said.

Mr Romney leads in Florida – a more moderate state than South Carolina – by an
average of 18.5 per cent, according to RealClearPolitics. His vast financial
superiority will allow him to dominate media advertising there. However, Mr
Gingrich will hope that momentum from his victory will now finally unite
opponents to Mr Romney behind his candidacy.

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