jackovesk
22nd January 2012, 07:11
http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/3786586-3x2-700x467.jpg
Photo: The win for Newt Gingrich transforms the White House race.
January 22, 2012
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich has pulled off an upset win in the keenly watched South Carolina Republican presidential primary.
Counting continues in South Carolina but the result is beyond doubt, showing Mr Gingrich has completed a stunning turnaround in the key primary, racing to a double digit lead.
To cheers of "USA, USA" and "A whole Newt world", Mr Gingrich thanked South Carolina for its southern hospitality as he accepted victory.
"[It is] very humbling and very sobering to have so many people who so deeply to want their country to get back on the right track," he told the crowd.
The American people feel that they have elites who have been trying for half a century to force us to quit being American and become some other system."
Newt Gingrich
Mr Gingrich said the US government had lost touch with American people.
"So many people who are so concerned about jobs, about medical costs, about the everyday parts of life, who feel that the elites in Washington have no understanding and in fact do not represent them at all," he said.
"The American people feel that they have elites who have been trying for half a century to force us to quit being American and become some other system."
He also took aim at president Barack Obama, who he accused of being led by radical left-wingers.
"Just think how radical he would be in a second term," he said.
Former Massachusetts governor, national frontrunner Mitt Romney, rang Mr Gingrich to concede defeat before telling his disappointed supporters to get ready for a long fight.
A win for Mr Romney in South Carolina could have effectively ended the Republican nomination process. Instead the battle now moves to Florida.
Mr Gingrich has shone in the televised debates, and nearly two-thirds of those voting in the conservative state told exit polls the debates were important.
Shouts of "Newt, Newt" echoed in the former speaker's campaign headquarters when Fox television called the key primary for Mr Gingrich, with one supporter calling out, "I feel like I want to kiss everybody."
In a message on his Twitter account, Mr Gingrich said: "Thank you South Carolina. Help me deliver the knockout punch in Florida. Join our Moneybomb and donate now."
For the past 30 years the winner in South Carolina has gone onto become the Republican party's nominee.
The upset breathes life into the Gingrich campaign and has weakened Mr Romney.
Mr Romney has seen his early lead in South Carolina fall and his national lead over his Republican rivals has also slipped.
The outcome means three different winners in the first three contests of the 2012 Republican race to choose the party's standard-bearer to take on Mr Obama in the November elections.
The first vote in Iowa on January 3 was this week eventually ruled to have been won by former US senator Rick Santorum, although Mr Romney, who took the second vote in New Hampshire, was initially believed to have triumphed.
'He kicked butt'
Republicans have yet to coalesce around one single candidate. Mr Romney has the money and the on-the-ground organisation, but suspicions linger over his Mormon faith and whether he is conservative enough.
He has also sought to deflect attacks that he built his vast fortune while firing workers, saying he expected such jibes from Mr Obama, not fellow Republicans - traditionally the party of business.
Mr Santorum and Mr Gingrich have both now briefly surged to the front of the pack.
Mr Santorum and US congressman and libertarian Ron Paul will take third and fourth place.
Late on Saturday (local time) Mr Romney came out swinging, vowing he was prepared for the long-haul as he congratulated "speaker Gingrich and my fellow Republicans on a hard-fought campaign here in South Carolina."
"This is a hard fight because there is so much worth fighting for," he told supporters shouting "We need Mitt" in the state capital Columbia.
"This election is a battle for the soul of America. It's a choice between two very different destinies for America," Mr Romney added, attacking Mr Obama as having no idea how to get the struggling economy back on its feet.
"If president Obama thinks he can compare his record of job losses, with my record of job creation that's a battle we're going to win."
Mr Santorum praised Mr Gingrich for his "great victory" adding "he kicked butt."
"There's a momentum for Newt and he capitalized on it," he told CNN, reassuring supporters that he would not bow to pressure to quit to allow conservatives to coalesce around one candidate.
"We have conservative organisations, we just got together and started endorsing us this week. We think for the long-term, we're going to be in much stronger shape."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-22/gingrich-ahead-in-exit-polls/3786576
PS - For 'Christs Sake' America - Wake Up..!
Photo: The win for Newt Gingrich transforms the White House race.
January 22, 2012
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich has pulled off an upset win in the keenly watched South Carolina Republican presidential primary.
Counting continues in South Carolina but the result is beyond doubt, showing Mr Gingrich has completed a stunning turnaround in the key primary, racing to a double digit lead.
To cheers of "USA, USA" and "A whole Newt world", Mr Gingrich thanked South Carolina for its southern hospitality as he accepted victory.
"[It is] very humbling and very sobering to have so many people who so deeply to want their country to get back on the right track," he told the crowd.
The American people feel that they have elites who have been trying for half a century to force us to quit being American and become some other system."
Newt Gingrich
Mr Gingrich said the US government had lost touch with American people.
"So many people who are so concerned about jobs, about medical costs, about the everyday parts of life, who feel that the elites in Washington have no understanding and in fact do not represent them at all," he said.
"The American people feel that they have elites who have been trying for half a century to force us to quit being American and become some other system."
He also took aim at president Barack Obama, who he accused of being led by radical left-wingers.
"Just think how radical he would be in a second term," he said.
Former Massachusetts governor, national frontrunner Mitt Romney, rang Mr Gingrich to concede defeat before telling his disappointed supporters to get ready for a long fight.
A win for Mr Romney in South Carolina could have effectively ended the Republican nomination process. Instead the battle now moves to Florida.
Mr Gingrich has shone in the televised debates, and nearly two-thirds of those voting in the conservative state told exit polls the debates were important.
Shouts of "Newt, Newt" echoed in the former speaker's campaign headquarters when Fox television called the key primary for Mr Gingrich, with one supporter calling out, "I feel like I want to kiss everybody."
In a message on his Twitter account, Mr Gingrich said: "Thank you South Carolina. Help me deliver the knockout punch in Florida. Join our Moneybomb and donate now."
For the past 30 years the winner in South Carolina has gone onto become the Republican party's nominee.
The upset breathes life into the Gingrich campaign and has weakened Mr Romney.
Mr Romney has seen his early lead in South Carolina fall and his national lead over his Republican rivals has also slipped.
The outcome means three different winners in the first three contests of the 2012 Republican race to choose the party's standard-bearer to take on Mr Obama in the November elections.
The first vote in Iowa on January 3 was this week eventually ruled to have been won by former US senator Rick Santorum, although Mr Romney, who took the second vote in New Hampshire, was initially believed to have triumphed.
'He kicked butt'
Republicans have yet to coalesce around one single candidate. Mr Romney has the money and the on-the-ground organisation, but suspicions linger over his Mormon faith and whether he is conservative enough.
He has also sought to deflect attacks that he built his vast fortune while firing workers, saying he expected such jibes from Mr Obama, not fellow Republicans - traditionally the party of business.
Mr Santorum and Mr Gingrich have both now briefly surged to the front of the pack.
Mr Santorum and US congressman and libertarian Ron Paul will take third and fourth place.
Late on Saturday (local time) Mr Romney came out swinging, vowing he was prepared for the long-haul as he congratulated "speaker Gingrich and my fellow Republicans on a hard-fought campaign here in South Carolina."
"This is a hard fight because there is so much worth fighting for," he told supporters shouting "We need Mitt" in the state capital Columbia.
"This election is a battle for the soul of America. It's a choice between two very different destinies for America," Mr Romney added, attacking Mr Obama as having no idea how to get the struggling economy back on its feet.
"If president Obama thinks he can compare his record of job losses, with my record of job creation that's a battle we're going to win."
Mr Santorum praised Mr Gingrich for his "great victory" adding "he kicked butt."
"There's a momentum for Newt and he capitalized on it," he told CNN, reassuring supporters that he would not bow to pressure to quit to allow conservatives to coalesce around one candidate.
"We have conservative organisations, we just got together and started endorsing us this week. We think for the long-term, we're going to be in much stronger shape."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-22/gingrich-ahead-in-exit-polls/3786576
PS - For 'Christs Sake' America - Wake Up..!