Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, has struggled in recent days with questions about his personal wealth and taxes, while Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, has been surging in polls after a pair of well-received debate performances.
The stakes are high Saturday. Romney could be unstoppable if he wins in South Carolina after last week’s big victory in the New Hampshire primary and a near-tie in the first nominating contest, the Iowa caucuses.
But if Romney stumbles in South Carolina, it could portend a battle for the nomination stretching over months.
Gingrich, who now faces explosive allegations by an ex-wife that he asked for an open marriage so he could carry on an affair with his current wife, is trying to establish himself as the conservative alternative to Romney, who some Republicans see as too moderate. Romney has benefited as Gingrich, former Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Gov. Rick Perry have divided the conservative vote. But the contest narrowed Thursday, with Perry dropping out and throwing his support to Gingrich, who is from the neighboring state of Georgia and has been surging in polls after a pair of well-received debate performances.
Romney sounded anything but confident as he told reporters that in South Carolina, “I realize that I had a lot of ground to make up and Speaker Gingrich is from a neighboring state, well known, popular ... and frankly to be in a neck-and-neck race at this last moment is kind of exciting.”
Several days after forecasting a Romney victory in his state, Sen. Jim DeMint said the campaign’s first Southern primary was now a two-man race between the former Massachusetts governor, who has struggled in recent days with questions about his personal wealth and taxes, and Gingrich.
DeMint predicted the primary winner was “likely to be the next president of the United States.” Indeed, the winner of the state’s primary has gone on to capture the Republican nomination each year since 1980.
A victory by Romney would place him in a commanding position heading into the Florida primary on Jan. 31.
If the former Massachusetts governor stumbles in South Carolina, it could portend a long, drawn-out battle for the nomination stretching well into spring and further expose rifts inside the party between those who want a candidate who can defeat Obama more than anything else, and those whose strong preference is for a solid conservative.
Left unspoken was that Romney swept into South Carolina 10 days ago on the strength of a strong victory in the New Hampshire primary and maintained a double-digit lead in the South Carolina polls for much of the week.
Campaigning on Friday, Romney demanded that Gingrich release hundreds of supporting documents relating to an ethics committee investigation into his activities while he was speaker of the House in the mid-1990s.
That was an attempt to turn the tables on Gingrich, who has demanded Romney release his income tax returns before the weekend primary so Republicans can know in advance if they contain anything that could compromise the party’s chances against Obama this fall.
Gingrich’s campaign brushed off Romney’s demand, calling it a “panic attack” brought on by sinking poll numbers.
In January 1997, Gingrich became the first speaker ever reprimanded and fined for ethics violations, slapped with a $300,000 penalty. He said he’d failed to follow legal advice concerning the use of tax-exempt contributions to advance potentially partisan goals, but he was also cleared of numerous other allegations.
At the same time, Gingrich was less than eager to answer accusations made by his second wife, Marianne, who said in an ABC interview broadcast Thursday night that he had once sought an open marriage so he could keep the mistress who later became his current wife. Gingrich denies the claims.
In a bewildering series of events on Thursday, Romney was stripped of his victory in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses by state party officials, who said a recount showed Santorum ahead by 34 votes.
