Big News Day in the Palmetto State

Yesterday started out rather noteworthy and ended in the same way.

With much class and dignity, Texas Governor Rick Perry pulled out of the presidential race and endorsed Newt Gingrich. This move was expected, as Perry did not see a clear path to the nomination, despite the fact of still having a significant amount of campaign cash. Perry started out with much promise and potential as the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, citing his years as governor of the job creation machine in Texas. While he is an excellent retail politician, Perry heavily faltered in the debates; going against established Conservative thought and publicly blanking out. He was dogged by these debate flubs and was never able to regain his stature at the opening of his late entrance. Rick Perry's exit showed that the goal and process of finding a consistent Conservative to unseat Obama is bigger than he is, and for that he should be respected and highly regarded.

Later in the day, it was determined that Rick Santorum, in fact, did win Iowa. While it may not help Santorum in South Carolina, it will be a detriment to Romney in the state, as he had a weak debate performance earlier in the week and overall, a challenging week.

Also last night with the ABC/Obama character assassination of Newt Gingrich airing on Nightline, the candidates still had a debate. And predictable as the sun will rise every morning, John King went after Newt Gingrich on the very first question. Instead of describing it, I'll post the response.



For the second time in one week, Newt hits it out of the park and gets a standing ovation. Republicans saw this question as petty, presumed King to be a mouthpiece of Obama/Democrats and rightly so, Newt called him out on it. We've seen from Reagan to Bush 41, that despite the perceived shame, the mainstream media will continue to articulate a left-wing bias, but even though, calling the reporter/moderator out on it is red meat for Conservatives. This debate performance could very well propel the Speaker to victory in South Carolina.

The Marianne Gingrich interview did appear on Nightline and combining last night's debate, releasing too much of the interview before airing it, society's past acceptance of marital instability in their leaders (e.g. Bill Clinton), combined with the fact that Americans and Republicans see the bigger issues at hand of encroaching government, out of control spending and high unemployment, the Brian Ross piece was a bust!

South Carolina Republicans vote tomorrow, and the events of this week will propel Newt Gingrich to victory.