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(s)Elections See other (s)Elections Articles Title: The campaign's wildest day - Jonathan Martin - POLITICO.com The campaign's wildest day By JONATHAN MARTIN | 1/19/12 3:15 PM EST NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — A GOP presidential primary marked by the unpredictable took its sharpest turns yet Thursday and the fallout could determine whether the campaign effectively ends this weekend or continues for weeks or even months. Over a period of mere hours, the roller-coaster Republican race was shaken by a cascade of events: An explosive ABC interview with Newt Gingrich’s second wife, Marianne, in which she describes his request for an “open marriage”; a recount of the Iowa caucuses revealing that Rick Santorum won more votes than Mitt Romney; and Rick Perry’s abrupt decision to drop out of the race and get behind Gingrich. And all that took place before the four remaining candidates were to meet on stage here for their final debate before Saturday’s South Carolina primary — an event that could be critical given Thursday’s whirlwind of news. For all the head-snapping developments, though, there appears to be only one seemingly determinative question hanging over the race — can conservatives now coalesce around the candidacy of Gingrich, a man whose personal life seems 180 degrees from traditional family values. If the right doesn’t rally to Gingrich at this moment — with the former speaker surging in the polls here and receiving a nod from Sarah Palin and full-throated endorsement from Perry — Romney is likely to seize the nomination in South Carolina and seal it in Florida at the end of the month. For now, Gingrich seems at his most formidable since he stormed to the front of the race in December – but also so vulnerable that his campaign could collapse over renewed attention to his marital history. The primary here has clearly become a two-man race between Gingrich and Romney, with the former speaker riding a wave since his standout debate showing Monday. Romney’s campaign is plainly worried about Gingrich and has unleashed some of its harshest criticism yet during the past two days, portraying their rival as erratic, narcissistic and generally unfit for office. A Gingrich win here would mean that the man widely expected to be his party’s nominee lost two of the first three states and raises the first real questions about the front-runner’s inevitability. Gingrich got an important boost when Perry withdrew, endorsed him and made an explicit case to conservatives that it’s time to get behind the 68-year-old Republican warrior. “I believe Newt is a conservative visionary who can transform our country,” Perry told reporters at a hotel here, making the case that Gingrich can “rally and captivate the conservative movement.” Gingrich, campaigning in Beaufort, S.C., said he had spoken with Perry before the announcement and asked that the Texan help him focus attention on the 10th Amendment. “I think he’s going to be extraordinarily helpful all across the country,” Gingrich told reporters after a town hall meeting. But even as he attempts to take advantage of his third chance in a campaign that represents a remarkable second political life, Gingrich is facing renewed scrutiny over his most significant shortcoming: his three marriages and infidelity. In her first television interview since the 1990s, Marianne Gingrich told ABC that the former speaker asked for an “open marriage” arrangement so that he could continue to conduct an affair with his then-mistress and current wife, Callista Gingrich. “And I just stared at him and he said, ‘Callista doesn’t care what I do,’” Marianne Gingrich said by way of explaining how she responded when her then-husband asked her to share him. Asked by reporters in Beaufort about his alleged request for an “open marriage,” Gingrich waved off the question. He noted that his daughters had called the interview “tawdry and inappropriate” and reiterated he wouldn’t discuss his second wife. But try as he may to downplay the issue, it couldn’t come at a worse time. Just as he appears to have a chance to win South Carolina and throw a jolt into the race, the most unsavory aspects of his past are being revived for the full consumption of an electorate filled with evangelical Christians. How those social conservatives, and especially the women who in a new POLITICO poll were already uncertain about Gingrich, respond could tip the results here and in the larger primary. With a CNN debate this evening, Gingirch will certainly be faced with a series of difficult questions about his marital past. Indeed, the issue threatens to dominate the final 48 hours of the campaign. Even in getting behind Gingrich, Perry obliquely raised the issue of his friend’s infidelity. “Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?” said Perry. And then, citing his Christian faith, Perry said he could forgive Gingrich because the former speaker sought forgiveness from God. “I believe in the power of redemption,” said the Texan. The other challenge for Gingrich is that not all of Perry supporters will as eagerly jump on the Newt Train as the Texas governor. Henry Barbour, an influential Mississippi Republican and nephew of the former governor, attended Perry’s news conference to show support for his favored candidate but said immediately afterward he wouldn’t back Gingrich. “I like having a Republican speaker of the House,” Barbour cracked, suggesting Ging With the Iowa results and renewed attention on Gingrich’s personal life, Santorum has a fresh case to make that he should be the conservative alternative. But Iowa increasingly seems to have been the high-water mark of the former senator’s campaign. He is fading here and well behind Romney in Florida polls. The nods by Palin and Perry toward Gingrich have also diluted Santorum’s attempt to coalesce movement conservatives. Unless Gingrich crashes badly in the next days over his ex-wife’s decision to speak out, Santorum appears to have little hope. Romney shrugged off the news about Perry’s decision when asked about it after a rally at his campaign headquarters in Charleston on Thursday morning. “He’s a great man. He made a real contribution. He already has to his state and to our country,” Romney said. Romney walked away when asked about Perry backing Gingrich. Perry’s decision to withdraw came after an extended period in which Gingrich courted the Texan and his staff, including a meeting between the two candidates on Wednesday. Perry’s wife, Anita, had been among his most stalwart voices urging him to stay in the race after finishing a distant fifth in Iowa. But after seeing the poll numbers showing her husband out of the running here and previous supporters urging him to drop out, she came around and agreed it was time to end the disappointing campaign, according to Perry sources. The announcement itself was sudden, though, and added to the frantic nature of the day. Dozens of reporters and photographers raced to a modest Hyatt beside the interstate and momentarily thought something more than just a withdrawal and endorsement were in store upon arriving to find Herman Cain’s new 9-9-9-bedecked bus sitting in the parking lot. There was no sign of the former candidate in the hotel, though. Poster Comment: Over a period of mere hours, the roller-coaster Republican race was shaken by a cascade of events: An explosive ABC interview with Newt Gingrich’s second wife, Marianne, in which she describes his request for an “open marriage”; a recount of the Iowa caucuses revealing that Rick Santorum won more votes than Mitt Romney; and Rick Perry’s abrupt decision to drop out of the race and get behind Gingrich. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 6.
#1. To: TwentyTwelve (#0)
Should RP place anywhere near 20% in this primary, he has a punchers chance. It would certainly take him thru Super Tuesday, where Gingrich & Santorum (google his name everyone) failed to make the VA ballot. Debate at 8P, CNN, I'll have to DVR it. Basketball calls.........
You didn't miss much. SSDD.
There are no replies to Comment # 6. End Trace Mode for Comment # 6.
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