From Charleston, South Carolina -
For the second time in four days, Newt Gingrich wowed a debate crowd in South Carolina, tangling with the other Republican candidates and CNN moderator John King, all as evidence surfaced of major momentum for Gingrich here in the Palmetto State.
The debate began with CNN's King asking Gingrich about an ABC interview with Gingrich's ex-wife, where she alleged that Gingrich asked her to allow for an "open marriage" at the time he was seeing the woman who is now his wife.
For Gingrich, it must have been like a slugger thinking "fastball" and getting one at the belt and on the inside part of the plate.
In other words, it was in the upper deck.
"I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that," Gingrich said to King, drawing huge applause and cheers in the debate hall.
"I am tired of the elite media protecting Barack Obama by attacking Republicans," Gingrich said, verbally smacking around King just like the former Speaker had owned Juan Williams at the debate on Monday night.
As soon as Gingrich was finished, it felt to many of us in the press filing center that the debate had pretty much ended after only two minutes.
In all of these debates, I have tried to show my listeners and readers on Twitter how the lead paragraph is often set early in a debate - and in this case - there was no need to figure out an alternative story line - it was all about Newt.
Still, the debate went on, with Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul all aiming arrows at each other - and scoring with some jabs.
Santorum was again the most aggressive, but so far it has not produced results in the polls here in South Carolina.
At one point, the former Pennsylvania Senator blasted both Gingrich and Romney on health care, accusing them of "playing footsies with the Far Left" on the issue.
"Grandiosity has never been a problem with Newt Gingrich," Santorum said in a direct jab at possible winner here in the Palmetto State.
Mitt Romney also joined in the attacks on Gingrich, all but mocking Gingrich's constant references to his work with President Reagan on economic growth proposals.
"You're mentioned once in Ronald Reagan's diary," Romney said with a smile.
"He says you had an idea in a meeting of young Congressmen, and it wasn't a very good idea and he dismissed it," Romney added, clearly ready for the debate moment.
As for Romney, he again seemed to be on slick footing when it came to questions about his tax returns, which he said might be released when he finishes his returns for this year - in other words - in April.
Asked about attacks on his time at Bain Capital, Romney said "I'm not going to apologize for being successful."
If you had to grade out the debate, Gingrich and Santorum both did well in terms of getting their message out, though they took a few jabs to the chin.
Romney again didn't do anything wrong, but he didn't exactly light the place on fire, either.
As for Ron Paul, he seemed to be on the edge of most of the debates; his poll numbers though indicate he has bumped up into a much stronger third place position while Santorum has slipped back.
South Carolina voters will deliver their GOP verdict on Saturday.
