After a good debate performance on Monday night, the big question was whether Newt Gingrich could get some momentum in South Carolina for this Saturday's primary. The answer seems to be an emphatic "Yes."
A half dozen different polls on South Carolina came out Thursday, and all showed a move towards Gingrich.
"This is not a case of Romney imploding," said a report from Public Policy Polling, which found Gingrich in the lead by six points.
That was an 11 point turnaround from the PPP poll in South Carolina just a week ago when Romney was in the lead.
A new Rasmussen poll in the Palmetto State was even more dramatic, as in three days, that poll went from Romney ahead by 14 points to Gingrich ahead by two.
In the Rasmussen poll, Romney only dropped four points, while Gingrich went up by a dozen.
The latest Insider Advantage poll showed the same move, going from Romney ahead by 11 points to Gingrich ahead by three.
Could the polls be wrong? Of course they could. We have seen many examples of that.
But we shouldn't ignore the move up by Gingrich right now. Whether it is enough to catch Romney on Saturday is the big question.
Think of it this way - if Gingrich wins in South Carolina, that will mean three states have produced three different winners.
Just a few days ago, many thought Mitt Romney might be close to closing out this nomination fight; now the GOP might have a more extended battle to deal with.
One more note about all these polls in South Carolina - they also show Ron Paul edging into third while Rick Santorum seems to be slipping back into fourth place.
