Long Republican battle expected
Newt Gingrich’s come- from- behind triumph in South Carolina presages a long, bitter fight with Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination to run for U. S. president.
COLUMBIA, S. C. — South Carolina is supposed to be the state that anoints Republican candidates. Winners of its primary have gone on to be the party’s nominee every time since 1980.
But by voting overwhelmingly for Newt Gingrich and snatching the crown being lowered onto Mitt Romney’s head, the southern state’s voters have thrown the Republican race into confusion.
The party now has some soulsearching to do. It must decide between Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who stirs few passions but who has the looks, money, experience and discipline to make a solid case against President Barack Obama in November, or the irascible, short- tempered Newt Gingrich, who encapsulates conservative angst but wants for organizational skills.
The dilemma is so deep that the race will last for several more weeks if not months. It could boil down to a two- horse race resembling the epic tussle between Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination in 2008 that was not concluded until June.
The delegate count will be crucial. Each state awards delegates — more than 2,286 in total — who then attend the party convention in the late summer to officially select the nominee. The Republicans have changed their rules, and half the 50 states will award delegates on a proportional representation basis, rather than the winner- takesall system. In a close result, the winner can come away with only a handful more delegates than the runner- up.
So far, only 72 delegates have been allocated. Romney leads with 33, and Gingrich has 21.
The race might not only be long but ugly. Every weakness will be probed, from the former Speaker’s three marriages to his accepting $ 1.6 million in consulting fees from two housing boards that he had criticized as symbols of big government failure.
In his speech on Saturday, Romney branded his rival a creature of the Washington culture he professes to loath. Gingrich, for his part, asked his supporters to “call anyone you know in Florida” and ask for help. There is a long haul ahead, he will need it.