I didn't watch last night's debate, yet couldn't help but see and hear many sound bites during today's news coverage. CNN's John King incurred Newt Gingrich's wrath and scorn by leading off the questioning with allegations by Newt's ex-wife that he asked her for an open marriage during the late 1990s when he was also publicly excoriating President Bill Clinton for the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Gingrich earned a huge applause when he lashed out at King and the "elite media," and he may well have earned himself a victory in tomorrow's South Carolina primary. As of Friday evening the Speaker was running neck-and-neck with presumed frontrunner Mitt Romney in several polls, and also earned former candidate Rick Perry's endorsement. Two other also-rans, Michelle Bachmann and Herman Cain, have not endorsed anyone in South Carolina.
It is just possible that many South Carolina Republicans are so fed up with the mainstream media that they will cast a vote for Gingrich, either out of sympathy for the pummeling he's endured of late, or just as a way to spite the media.
Then there's the whole open primary wild card. Independents and Democrats are allowed to vote in South Carolina's GOP primary, which could muddle the results in unforseen ways. Is it possible many of these folks -- especially the Democrats -- feel Gingrich would be much easier for Obama to defeat in the general election than Romney, therefore they will try to help him earn the nomination? Maybe. But even if Gingrich wins South Carolina, there's a long road ahead.
Gingrich is a highly flawed candidate who should have been much more circumspect about publicly castigating Bill Clinton while he himself was cheating on his wife. He needs to avoid letting his massive ego and impatience prompt him into putting his foot in his mouth -- an all-too-frequent occurrence.
But as I've stated before, Gingrich is also highly intelligent, full of dynamic ideas, and has an impressive track record as someone who helped balance the budget four years in a row, implement significant welfare reform, and cut capital gains taxes, all of which made the 1990s economy roar. We could certainly do worse than to have him in the Oval Office (and currently are doing worse.)
John King and the stooges at ABC who originally broadcast the Marianne Gingrich interview are not interested in substance, fairness or pertinence. They are interested in sensationalism, ratings and stoking their own bloated egos. The people of South Carolina realize this, and because of that, Mitt Romney just might be in for a good ol' fashioned butt-kicking.
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