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Newt Gingrich’s second wife (out of three) has long maintained that she has the power to end his campaign with a single interview. Leaking out on the Drudge Report in drips and drabs tonight are indications that Marianne may well have given that interview to ABC News, which is reported to be conducting an internal debate on whether to air it before Saturday’s South Carolina primary.
While details dribble out from Drudge you can get a comprehensive backgrounder in this TPM article from 2010, which is a stunning reminder of just how much material Marianne has at her disposal. Even now it’s an explosive read. (Forgive, however, the distorted picture, which was a victim of TPM’s recent reformatting).
The Republican party of Iowa has finished its recount of the January 3rd Iowa caucuses and the certified final results show Rick Santorum came out ahead by 34 votes. So he ‘won’, right?
Well, not according to the state GOP. According to the state party it’s a “split decision” or a “tie.” Read More
It’s looking like a big, big day for Newt Gingrich — the even bigger question is which kind of ‘big’ it’s going to be. You probably know the news that broke last night about a supposedly tell-all interview Gingrich’s (second) ex-wife, Marianne, gave to ABC and which is scheduled to run tonight at 11:35 PM eastern. But that’s not the only news for Gingrich today. There were hints and drabs of information yesterday suggesting that Gingrich was making a big move in South Carolina. And now three new polls this morning confirm it.
The TPM Poll Average of the South Carolina primary shows Romney 33.4%, Gingrich 29.3%, Santorum 13%, Paul 13%. Read More
A tweet just out from PPP polling …
Newt up 37-20 on Mitt with SC evangelicals last night, but wonder how talk of an open marriage will affect that in final 48 hrs
After putting out a press release early this morning calling new news of his Iowa defeat a “virtual tie“, Romney is apparently refusing any comments about Iowa as he campaigns in person today.
Click below for video of him dodging the question earlier. Read More
We’ve had a small avalanche of new polls come out of South Carolina this morning. The very latest is one from PPP. They’re doing what I understand is a two night poll. Last night was the first night and they’ve released that data as what amounts to a stand-alone poll, albeit with a pretty small sample size. This poll from just last night has Gingrich ahead of Romney by 6 points. This is one of four polls that were completed only last night — three of four of which have Gingrich in the lead.
The TPM Poll Average for South Carolina is now Gingrich 32%, Romney 31.5%, Paul 14.6%, Santorum 11.5%.
In truth, Gingrich’s momentum looks so overwhelming the only thing that could stop him would be a last minute tell-all interview from an ex-wife saying he wanted to have an open marriage. Read More
The Iowa GOP dodged on declaring Rick Santorum the winner of the Iowa caucus because votes from precincts are simply missing and cannot be found. But those precincts were actually reported on election night and if you add them it makes Santorum’s margin even bigger.
Gingrich’s ex- Marianne: I refused to have to an “open marriage.”
Our reporter in the ground in Beaufort says the locals are treating the Newt sex/philandering interview with a big yawn.