Republican race changes course
Perry drops out, Gingrich ex- wife talks cheating, Romney learns he lost in Iowa
Rick Perry drops out and throws his support to Newt Gingrich, whose second wife says he wanted an ‘ open marriage.’ And front- runner Mitt Romney learns he lost in Iowa.
CHARLESTON, S. C. — Just when U. S. Republicans thought their party’s presidential race was settling into something approaching predictability, the campaign was rocked Thursday by a trio of unexpected developments that immediately recast the political narrative ahead of Saturday’s South Carolina primary.
In the span of a few chaotic hours:
• Texas Gov. Rick Perry suspended his campaign and endorsed Newt Gingrich.
• Mitt Romney learned Rick Santorum had actually won more votes in the Iowa caucuses — 34 more votes, a recount found.
• Gingrich’s second ex- wife surfaced to allege her former husband asked for an “open marriage” even as he championed family values in public.
The Republican drama came amid the release of the results of several polls showing Romney’s lead in the Palmetto State — once a commanding 20 percentage points — all but has been erased by a surge in support for Gingrich.
Perry was the first to jump into Thursday’s chaotic Republican maw, announcing at a morning news conference in North Charleston that he had concluded “there is no viable path to victory” for his candidacy in 2012.
The third- term governor, who finished fifth in the Iowa caucuses and sixth in last week’s New Hampshire primary, said he was endorsing Gingrich despite “differences” with the former House Speaker.
“Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?” said Perry, who earlier in the campaign had criticized Gingrich over his past marital infidelities. “The fact is, there is forgiveness for those who seek God and I believe in the power of redemption, for it is a central tenet of my own Christian faith.”
Gingrich issued a statement welcoming Perry’s support, which came ahead of a Republican debate Thursday night in Charleston.
Family values
But Gingrich’s campaign was distracted by its own looming public relations disaster.
Gingrich’s second wife, Marianne, told ABC News’ Nightline her ex- husband made the request for an open marriage in 1999 while he was already cheating on her with his future third wife, Callista.
“I said to him, ‘ Newt, we’ve been married a long time,’ and he said ‘ Yes, but you want me all to yourself. Callista doesn’t care what I do,’ ” Marianne said.
Campaigning Thursday in South Carolina, Gingrich told reporters he didn’t want to “say anything about Marianne” but felt the interview was “tawdry and inappropriate.”
Perry’s parting news conference and the interview with Gingrich’s ex- wife partly eclipsed the bombshell announcement Thursday that the results of the Jan. three Iowa caucuses had been overturned.
Ballots were lost
Republican officials said a certified count of the Iowa caucus results showed that Romney, initially declared an eightvote winner, actually lost to Santorum by 34 votes.
In an embarrassment that threatens to undermine the state’s importance in future election cycles, Iowa Republican officials admitted that ballots from eight precincts had been lost altogether.
Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, who is fourth in South Carolina polls, described the revised results as a “huge upset.”
The new outcome in Iowa has no practical impact on the selection of delegates to the Republican’s summer convention. But it robs Romney of bragging rights as being the first non- incumbent Republican candidate to win Iowa and New Hampshire.
In a statement, Romney downplayed the significance of the Iowa tally. It “revealed a virtual tie,” he said.
The Iowa about- face also may puncture the aura of inevitability that was beginning to settle over Romney’s candidacy, just as he is fighting off more pointed questions about his vast personal wealth.
Romney’s opponents repeatedly have pressed the former governor, whose fortune is estimated to be near $ 250 million, to release his tax returns before Saturday’s vote. Romney did reveal he pays at a 15 per cent tax rate — lower than many middle- class American families — because he derives much of his income from investments.
He also is facing pressure from his rivals after it emerged he has invested some of his wealth offshore in the Cayman Islands, a popular tax haven.
Missteps hurt Romney
Romney’s missteps appear to be having a last- minute impact with South Carolina voters.
The results of three polls released Thursday — by Rasmussen, Public Policy Polling and Insider Advantage — showed Gingrich now narrowly leading Romney.
Results of an NBC News poll, conducted over two days early in the week, showed Romney with a 10- point advantage. But results of the NBC survey revealed a sharp jump in support for Gingrich on the second day of polling.
Earlier in the week, Gingrich said the Republican would “probably nominate a moderate” if he could not defeat Romney in South Carolina, underscoring the historical importance of the state’s Republican primary. Since 1980, every Republican candidate to win the South Carolina primary has gone on to capture the party’s presidential nomination.
A victory for Romney would give him additional momentum heading into the Jan. 31 primary in Florida, a state where his organizational and financial advantages become a bigger fact. A loss to Gingrich, however, could give renewed hope to conservative Republicans who have struggled to rally around a right- wing alternative to Romney.
Perry’s ‘ strategic retreat’
It’s unclear how Perry’s decision to suspend his campaign will affect the dynamic of the Republican race in the final hours before the South Carolina vote. Gingrich is hoping South Carolina conservatives who supported Perry will follow their candidate’s lead.
But one prominent Perry supporter in South Carolina, former U. S. ambassador to Canada David Wilkins, jumped to Romney’s camp after Perry’s departure.
Perry’s announcement marked the end of a campaign that began in August with high expectations: He topped the polls immediately upon joining the race but foundered amid a series of high- profile blunders that revealed his lack of depth in national politics.
Perry had weighed dropping out after the Iowa caucuses but tried instead to regain momentum in socially conservative South Carolina. But he continued to struggle, declaring in a Monday debate that NATO ally Turkey was run by “Islamic terrorists,” and slipped to as low as two per cent support in some Palmetto State polls.
“As a Texan, I have never shied away from a good fight, especially when the cause was right,” Perry said. “But as someone who has always admired a great Texas forefather, Sam Houston, I know when it is time for a strategic retreat.”