On this Saturday in South Carolina, Newt Gingrich has a golden chance to force a detour in the race for the White House and throw a hurdle in the way of GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney's bid for the Republican nomination.
"What the liberal media can't wrap their heads around is that this campaign is a coalition of Americans who want to restore the conservative ideas and principles that make us great," Gingrich said in an email to backers on Friday night.
"This campaign is about a conservative movement that refuses to settle for another Massachusetts Moderate chosen by the establishment," Gingrich added with his nickname for Romney.
That message has resonated with voters in South Carolina this week, as two new polls released on Friday showed the same snapshot - a six point lead for Gingrich over Romney.
“Newt Gingrich continues to hold a modest lead in South Carolina,” said Dean Debnam, the head of Public Policy Polling.
PPP has had Gingrich up by six points for two straight days.
When I arrived in South Carolina at the start of the week, the narrative was that Mitt Romney was on the verge of winning the GOP Primary and making himself into the candidate who can't be stopped.
Instead by the end of the week, Romney had now lost his victory in Iowa and might be knocked off by Gingrich in South Carolina.
"I happen to believe I'm the only guy in this race that can beat Barack Obama," Romney said in his final rally of the day in Greenville.
Romney's campaign was already looking ahead to the next stop in Florida, issuing all kinds of press releases on certain GOP figures who are casting early votes for Romney and scheduling a rally in Ormond Beach on Sunday.
Romney though left in doubt whether he would join a scheduled NBC debate in Tampa on Monday; there is also a debate next Thursday in Jacksonville, but that seems to be on at this point.
Finally, it's time for the voters to make their decision in South Carolina. We'll see what the message is on Saturday night.
