The Guardian
Newt Gingrich's South Carolina surge spells trouble for the Republican party
Sure, Newt does petulance with aplomb – but the longer his run delays Romney's nomination, the more it hurts GOP prospects
So that was a fun debate.
One has to hand it to Newt, he does caustic disdain like a dowager countess with a buggy whip – and that is how he went after CNN's John King, who had the temerity to ask Gingrich about the thing that everyone was asking about.
Gingrich's outrage at a question about his personal life is hypocritical only if you think political figures shouldn't have to justify their sexual conduct to the media or, say, a congressional impeachment panel. (The best part of a Gingrich presidency, by the way, would be when he's forced to share a stage with Bill Clinton.)
Gingrich's poll numbers in South Carolina are climbing, of course, and that's good news for those of us on the GOP primary journalist full-employment plan (it was this or earn an associate's degree). It's probably less great news for the Republican party, whose chances of actually beating Obama get slimmer each time Romney shows himself unable to defend himself without adding to the evidence against him. His own invocation of "Romneycare" last night a case in point.
The incredible, almost miraculous thing about Gingrich as a candidate is that his appeal is even thinner than the resume of a first-term senator from Illinois. Voters appear to gravitate to him based solely on his ability to sound even more arrogant than they imagine Obama to be. They so badly want someone to land some rhetorical punches on the president, they are willing to cede a technical knockout to end the fight (Newt being a fighter with a glass jaw, or really, a glass face).
I'll be checking in all day tomorrow as results and news trickle in, and will scout the comment threads for questions that I may actually have answers to. Please get some sleep, folks, I think it's going to be a long night.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/ana-marie-cox-blog/2012/jan/20/newt-gingrich-south-carolina-surge
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