All Eyes on South Carolina
After Mitt Romney squeaked by Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum in Iowa and had a very convincing victory in New Hampshire, the GOP primary race moves to South Carolina. South Carolina’s primary, which will take place this Saturday, is thought by many to be the last chance for anyone to show they are serious about challenging Mitt Romney.
Newt Gingrich is the only candidate within striking distance of Romney. After having huge leads in polls in South Carolina in mid-December, Newt’s numbers plummeted in late December and hit rock bottom after the Iowa caucuses. His numbers have leveled off just above 20 percent, but Mitt has been hovering around 30 percent since the Iowa caucuses. Newt needs a big bump in the next week in order to stay in the presidential race.
GOP Establishment Line Up Behind Romney
No non-incumbent GOP presidential candidate has ever won Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina in the same primary season ever. It appears that Romney is going to break that trend in South Carolina this Saturday but not without a fight from Newt Gingrich, who has been unrelenting in his attacks on Romney’s time at Bain Capital.
The Republican establishment, though, is taking Romney’s side on the issue. They know that a long, grueling primary is bad for Republicans'
chances of taking Obama’s seat in the White House this coming November.
This past weekend, Huntsman dropped out of the race after finishing third in New Hampshire, the state in which he bet all of his chips on a good finish. In doing so, he also endorsed Romney and called for party unity.
McCain, who had defeated Mitt in a fiery primary in New Hampshire in 2008, shared the stage with Romney in New Hampshire before last week’s primary.
Mike Huckabee also came to Romney’s defense over the Bain Capital attacks, which Romney featured in a recent ad.
These Republicans all know that it is only a matter of time before Romney is a candidate and the Bain Capital attacks will be coming from the Obama campaign.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.