GREENVILLE, S.C. — Seeking a political comeback, Newt Gingrich donned a dark suit and red tie, grabbed his wireless microphone and hit the campaign trail this week in South Carolina, a state history says is a must win to become the Republican nominee for president.
The former Georgia congressman’s message to Palmetto State voters: he’s more conservative than former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. And he’s the one Republican who can stare down President Barack Obama in a debate.
At each of his stops, Gingrich was greeted with cheers and standing ovations — a welcome scene for a candidate many had given up on six months ago. He appeared to be enjoying his return to the political limelight, cracking jokes at himself and Obama. Supporters — many of them older South Carolinians who could remember Gingrich’s time in Congress — marveled at how he spoke without notes or a teleprompter.
“I would love to see a debate between [Gingrich] and Obama,” Bill Bates, a Navy veteran from Goose Creek who called himself a gun-toting, tea-partying redneck, said after watching the former House speaker at a town hall meeting in Charleston Monday. “I think [Gingrich] would eat him, chew him up and spit him out. Here he is for a little over an hour and 20 minutes with no notes, no teleprompter, no nothing. I am liking the guy more and more.”
Riding high on a surge in the polls, Gingrich is pushing hard to win South Carolina. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spent three days following him as he dashed between the foothills and the coast, greeting voters in town hall meetings and at local eateries.
The importance of winning the South Carolina primary cannot be overstated. Since the contest was established here in 1980, every Republican winner here has gone on to become the nominee. South Carolina’s primary is also viewed as an early measure of strength for GOP candidates since it is home to a wide variety of Republicans, everyone from moderates to social conservatives to strict Constitutionalists.
Gingrich, who is also polling well in Iowa, could follow the path set by George W. Bush in 2000. Bush won Iowa but then lost New Hampshire to U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Bush won South Carolina, a bounce that pushed the then-Texas governor to the nomination.
Gingrich’s rapid ascent in the race is coinciding with another Georgian’s steep slide: Herman Cain has slipped in the polls amid accusations of sexual harassment and, most recently, an alleged extramarital affair.
Gingrich’s staff said he isn’t taking any chances despite his lead in some polls, which have him winning South Carolina by as much as a 2-1 margin. Gingrich has put 10 paid staffers on the ground in the state including a mix of longtime trusted aides and tea party activists. That gives him the largest campaign operation in South Carolina, The Hill newspaper reported this week.
Gingrich has also set up five campaign offices across the state. He attended the opening of his fifth office in Bluffton on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he wrapped up his swing through the state, which is set to hold the South’s first Republican primary on Jan. 21.
“I feel really good about our chances of carrying South Carolina,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday during a campaign stop in Greenville at Tommy’s Country Ham House. “The polls look very good. ... From now until Jan. 21, we are going to work constantly in South Carolina.”
Gingrich’s surge is surprising since he wasn’t given much of a chance early in the race, particularly after much of his campaign staff fled. Like Cain, Gingrich also carries some baggage, including two divorces, an extramarital affair and his contentious reign as speaker. He has made millions since his time in office as a health care consultant, work a New York Times report on Tuesday said may have been the same as lobbying.
Gingrich has also come under intense criticism from his opponents for his proposal to create a path to legal status for illegal immigrants who have lived here many years, obeyed the law and paid taxes. Romney and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota lashed out at Gingrich this week, accusing him of supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants. Gingrich expanded on his proposal during a town hall meeting in Charleston Monday, calling it a “humane” way to deal with a thorny problem.
“Several of my friends have said I am for amnesty. That is not true,” he said. “I think there is a humane, orderly way to do this.”
Gingrich’s supporters packed a town hall meeting in Charleston and treated him like a rock star. They cheered when he took the stage and then lined up to snap photos with him and get his autograph after he finished his speech.
Gingrich has said he sees the contest as a two-way race between him and Romney. In an interview on WSC-FM radio in Charleston, Gingrich said he is “a lot more conservative than Mitt Romney and a lot more electable than anybody else.”
On Wednesday, Gingrich talked about one of his other opponents, Cain, whom he has called a good friend. Gingrich wouldn’t advise Cain on whether to stay in the race, saying only that Cain should do what is best for him and his family.
But some South Carolinians are saying it’s time for Cain to go. Chip Felkel, a veteran Republican campaign consultant in South Carolina, wrote on Twitter Monday that “it is time for Herman Cain to exit the stage.”
Felkel said Gingrich could attract Cain’s supporters if Cain drops out. A recent national survey by Public Policy Polling supports Felkel’s conclusion. It says Cain supporters like Gingrich over Romney by a more than 2-1 margin.
Gingrich said he isn’t focusing on what could happen if Cain drops out.
“I don’t think you think in those kinds of [calculi] at this point,” Gingrich told the AJC. “I have run a consistently positive campaign. I haven’t worried about any of the Republican alternatives. I have focused on Barack Obama.”
At each of his stops in Charleston, Newberry and Greenville this week, Gingrich rarely mentioned his Republican opponents and instead attacked Obama, calling him a left-wing radical and a drag on the economy. Gingrich said he would work to repeal the healthcare overhaul legislation, fight for balanced budgets and shift more Homeland Security Department employees to states bordering Mexico.
An author and former West Georgia College history professor, Gingrich often laced his weighty speeches with references to the nation’s founding fathers, the Constitution and the Revolutionary War. But he went off script, when he took questions from the audience. He picked the University of Georgia to win the SEC championship Saturday over LSU, a heavy favorite to win. And he elicited laughter when he joked about his pudginess, saying he could lose weight but “God really wanted me to be a bear, not a gazelle.”
But not all Republican voters here are enamored with Gingrich. Count Ray Hooper among them. A carpenter from Easley, Hooper said Gingrich was hypocritical when he lead the impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton for lying about his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Gingrich later admitted to having an extramarital affair with Callista Bisek, a congressional staffer who is now his wife.
“I didn’t like him when he was speaker,” Hooper said as he finished lunch with friends at the Southern Skillet in West Columbia. “He is two-faced.”
Democrats, meanwhile, are carefully watching Gingrich as he campaigns here. South Carolina reliably votes Republican in presidential elections, but the Democratic Party is not conceding the state.
Dick Harpootlian, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said Gingrich “has a record that we are going to enjoy exposing, explaining and exploiting.”
“I think it’s a tough state,” Harpootlian said. “But based on the current crowd of [Republican candidates] — I think 50 states are in play.”
Unmatched coverage
Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Jeremy Redmon spent three days in South Carolina with Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. It’s part of our commitment to provide complete coverage of the two Georgians seeking the Republican nomination.
About the Author
