PJ: The GOP likes to think of itself as the family values and Christian faith party but when one of their own fails to live up to their own standards it is obviously the media's fault?
Newt Gingrich launches tirade over marriage at South Carolina debate
Republican hopeful embarks on a risky offensive, objecting to 'despicable' media questions, while Romney is booed over tax
By Ewen MacAskill
The Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich clashed with CNN for bringing up allegations by his former wife about one of his affairs during a televised debate on Thursday that was the last before the crucial South Carolina primary.
Looking stern and angry, Gingrich dismissed the allegations as "false" and said he was appalled that CNN, which was hosting the debate, would open with a question about the claims. He repeatedly described CNN's behaviour as "despicable".
Gingrich's former wife, Marianne, in an interview with ABC, claimed he had asked her for an "open marriage": staying married while conducting his affair with Callista, who went on to become his third wife. She also claimed the lovers had sex in the family home in Washington.
Gingrich is surging in the polls in South Carolina and is neck-and-neck with Mitt Romney after dominating the previous debate, on Monday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He was unable to replicate that performance on Thursday night.
His outburst against the media will play well with Republican voters but is double-edged: it gives greater prominence to the allegations, which may lose him votes among Christian evangelicals.
The governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, who is campaigning for Romney and who was the victim of sex smears during her own campaign in 2010, speaking in the spin room after the debate, described Gingrich's response as "emotional".
Another Romney surrogate, the former New Hampshire governor John Sununu, took a much tougher line on the open marriage question, describing it as a "strange outburst that may come back to bite him when reality sets in in the morning".
Sununu added: "Gingrich can't just blame all his problems on the media."
Although the debate ranged over personal tax, healthcare, piracy laws, immigration and other issues, the most explosive element was the confrontation between Gingrich and the CNN moderator John King at the start of the debate.
King mentioned allegations by Marianne, to gasps from the mainly Republican audience, then said: "Would you like to take some time to respond to that?"
Gingrich, looking angry, said: "No … but I will. I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office. And I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that."
Gingrich's press spokesman, RC Hammond, speaking in the spin room afterwards, challenged the media to explain why they had raised Marianne's allegations. "He has answered all these questions. It has been reported ad nauseum for decades."
Romney, though concerned about Gingrich's surge in South Carolina, opted against directly targeting him during the debate, worried that this might turn off voters. Romney had a steady but unspectacular night, fumbling only once, when asked again about releasing his tax returns.
He promised to produce the returns in April but only one year's worth, leaving him again looking defensive. "When they're completed this year in April, I'll release my returns in April and probably for other years as well," he said.
Gingrich, who released his tax returns for last year to the press during the debate, pressed Romney to release his tax returns now. "If there's anything in there that is going to help us lose the election, we should know it before the nomination. And if there's nothing in there – if there's nothing in there, why not release it?"
Romney's spin doctors noted that Gingrich had only released one year, while Paul and Santorum were not releasing theirs.
The debate belonged to the former senator Rick Santorum, who needs to pull back Gingrich and went after him hard, delivering a long monologue listing his failings.
"Newt's a friend. I love him," Santorum said. "But at times you've just got, you know, sort of that, you know, worrisome moment that something's going to pop. And we can't afford that in a nominee."
Ron Paul largely watched from the sidelines, frequently left out of the discussion by King.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/20/newt-gingrich-marriage-south-carolina
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