Newt Pulls Away in SC

We're starting to see the problems that always affect moderate candidates in primaries happening to Romney. In all primaries when there's no incumbent running, the centrist candidates have to go far outside their comfort zone to appease the more hard core voters who actually get out and vote in their state's contests. Mitt is a fiscal conservative and a social moderate. When he tries to be anything but he looks like he's pandering and people pick up on that easily. Add to that he's a Mormon in a deeply evangelical state and you have what we are seeing today: a Newt surge.

People don't like Newt because he's Newt and a good candidate but because he's not Romney. The guy is a hypocrite and philanderer but the evangelical bloc thinks of him as one of them in a weird sense. Santorum would be the most likely guy to gravitate to but as a Catholic, he's still not one of them. Herman Cain may have done well there as well.

So we have a little momentum for Gingrich that will last until possibly Florida. It seems that the party has gravitated back to Newt after the interview with his ex-wife aired and people viewed it as a hit piece on him (which it was). He's got the victim card working for him going into a conservative state and he's playing that card with relish.

Hopefully Romney can make up some of the votes he's hemorrhaged over the last week but PPP has Gingrich up by double digits as of last night.