Brave Newt World: Gingrich Splits Open Race

Tradition dictates that the results in South Carolina determine who will be the final Republican candidate in the battle for the presidency. If that continues, Newt Gingrich can hoist the flag already. As unexpected as he is convincing, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives won the battle in the Southern state with more than 40 percent of the vote. Mitt Romney, the designated winner, finished in a considerably distant second place. This result throws the race for the Republican nomination wide open.

Family

If there is one opportunity where the public is presented with an (almost always false) impression of the cohesion of family ties, it is during the victory speech of an important politician. Thus did Newt Gingrich give his celebratory speech on January 21 in Columbia, South Carolina, flanked by a flock of family members, including his wife (and former mistress) Callista Louise, with a fresh haircut that made her look at its best like a blond toaster.

Lewinsky

The mention of that “mistressy” is important here because Gingrinch unmercifully chased Bill Clinton in the late 1990s because of his games with Monica Lewinsky. Gingrich was the last one to throw the first stone then. During the debates last week, this subject surfaced again, because Gingrich also insists so much on norms and values. But the voters in South Carolina apparently do not take his frivolous course of life too seriously.

Attack

His victory speech radiated confidence and was one straight attack on President Obama. He was outlined as if he were a second Fred van der Spek, former member of Parliament of the Pacifist Socialist Party.

“[Washington] must be revised fundamentally” — a remarkable sound for someone who, as Speaker of the House of Representatives for years, was a prominent member of the elite, a circle Gingrich now strongly pulls to pieces. Compared to Obama, Jimmy Carter would have made for a strong president. Et cetera. It is interesting that the voters think Gingrich to be most capable of beating Obama on November 6.

Pushover

Mitt Romney, who thought the nomination was in the bag, will have to work hard to turn the tide. Many Republicans still consider him a pushover, too eager to please his audience. A journalist in Charleston said that if voters were cannibals, Mitt Romney would gladly fly in a couple of containers of fresh missionaries.

Romney still has the advantage of the money — Gingrich did not have a cent in Iowa, but after this victory, the dollars will flood his bank account.