Newt goes nuclear

---

The most brutal verbal ass-whipping I’ve ever seen.

---

Are you ready to rumble?

---

And then there were four.

Newt’s greatest strength has been his debate performances. Mitt is gonna be a tough sell in South Carolina, Ron Paul is there for comedy relief and if Rick Santorum was any stiffer they would put a condom on him.

What to watch for: How will Newt deal with questions about his ex-wife? He knows it’s coming. My guess is he’ll give a non-answer and scold the moderator for going there. His goal tonight is to knock out Santorum. If Newt is the only not-Romney left he wins (and we lose).

The fun (such as it is) will start at 5pm left coast time (8pm Atlantic) on CNN. The South Carolina primary is Saturday.

This is an open thread.

---

In the end there can be only one

---

Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?

---

Obama Blames Press for His ‘Cold and Aloof’ Image

President Obama blames the press for creating the image that he’s aloof and disconnected from the rest of Washington, insisting in a new interview that he’s just more interested in spending time with his family than in exchanging pleasantries with strangers.

“My suspicion is that this whole critique has to do with the fact that I don’t go to a lot of Washington parties and, as a consequence, the Washington press corps maybe just doesn’t feel like I’m in the mix enough with them, and they figure, well, if I’m not spending time with them, I must be cold and aloof,” Obama said in an interview with Time Magazine released Thursday.

---

Yeah, and I’m not going bald, the camera just doesn’t show my full head of thick curly hair.

Seriously, the “image” of Barack Obama as cold and aloof is the reality. I figured that out when his image was still “transcendental genius with mad interpersonal skills.” When he’s not reading lines off a teleprompter he’s a dick.

---

---

Like a deer in the headlights

"Yee-HAW!" only has two syllables

---

After Perry exit, anger at GOP debates

Perry entered the race — here in Charleston — amid great fanfare in August. To some Republicans, he seemed the perfect GOP candidate: an experienced southern governor with an impressive economic record. After a passable performance in the first debate, Perry turned in a number of poor debate performances that led to a rapid fall in the polls. It all culminated in a debate last November in Michigan in which Perry stumbled while trying to name the three cabinet departments he would eliminate as president. The way he ended what seemed to be an interminable period of trying to remember — simply declaring “Oops” — seemed the effective end of his campaign.

Perry’s supporters argued that his candidacy should be measured by more than debates, and that his record as governor made him a strong contender. But Perry never recovered from the debates, and on Thursday morning Dawson lashed out at the debate-centered process that has arisen in this Republican campaign.

“There’s no question that the debates…that’s where people gathered their information, and it’s changed modern campaigning,” Dawson said. “I would contend that regardless of the outcome, the Democrats will never let this happen. They will never let 19 debates — the Democrats will never let this happen. And the Republicans did, and I don’t know how you stop it. It has become a reality show of 30-second soundbites, it’s gotcha politics…This has become the political version of ‘American Idol.’”

---

How do we best evaluate candidates?

Barack Obama is living proof that any moron can be trained to recite words off a teleprompter. Published policy papers are meaningless if the candidate didn’t write them. A candidate’s “record” can be misleading because many factors were out of their control. Campaign ads are about as reliable as a $5 Rolex.

Fair or not, the only time we get to see candidates perform without a net is during debates.

But debates don’t always matter. Al Gore kicked George Bush’s ass almost as bad as Hillary kicked Barack’s.

The formula for what makes a winning candidate is a strange combination of factors that is unique for every wannabe office-holder. On paper Rick Perry looked like a contender. In reality he had a glass jaw.

So who was right, the “experts” or the voters?

---

---

Newtmentum?

---

Gingrich leads Romney on 1st night of tracking

Newt Gingrich led Mitt Romney 34-28 in PPP’s South Carolina polling last night, the first of what will be three nights of tracking. Ron Paul at 15%, Rick Santorum at 14%, Rick Perry at 5%, and Buddy Roemer at 3% round out the field.

This is not a case of Romney imploding. His support has been pretty steady in the 28-30% range in our South Carolina polling so far. But Gingrich has risen from 23% to 34% over the last two weeks, benefiting from declining support for Santorum and also from undecided voters moving into his camp.

It’s clear that the debate Monday night did a lot to help Gingrich’s prospects in the state. 56% of voters say they watched it, and with those folks Gingrich’s lead over Romney is 43-27. Romney still has a 29-22 advantage on Gingrich with those who didn’t tune in.

Gingrich is starting to consolidate his support with some of the more conservative parts of the South Carolina electorate. He has a 50-18 advantage on Romney with Tea Party voters. He’s up 39-23 with those describing themselves as ‘very conservative.’ And he even has a 37-20 advantage with evangelicals.

Gingrich is clearly flying high. The big question now is whether ABC’s interview with his ex-wife tonight will stifle all this momentum. For instance, will his strong support from evangelicals remain intact after they hear accusations that he wanted an ‘open marriage?’

---

and:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has now surged ahead of Mitt Romney in the final Rasmussen Reports survey of the South Carolina Republican Primary race with the vote just two days away.

The latest telephone survey of Likely GOP Primary Voters in the state finds Gingrich with 33% support to Romney’s 31%. Two days ago, before the last debate, it was Romney by 14 percentage points.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul now runs third with 15% of the vote, followed by former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum at 11%. Paul’s support is steady while Santorum’s support has dropped five points since Monday. At the beginning of the month, just after Santorum’s strong showing in the Iowa caucuses, he ran second to Romney with 24% of the vote.

---

Newt was here before, but the the GOP establishment and the establishment media rose up to smite him down. But he’s been left for dead before, and now here he is again.

So what changed?

---

---

Hell hath no fury . . .

NEWT EX-WIFE UNLOADS ON CAMERA; NETWORK DEBATES ‘ETHICS’ OF AIRING BEFORE SC PRIMARY

Marianne Gingrich has said she could end her ex-husband’s career with a single interview.

Earlier this week, she sat before ABCNEWS cameras, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

She spoke to ABCNEWS reporter Brian Ross for two hours, and her explosive revelations are set to rock the trail.

But now a “civil war” has erupted inside of the network, an insider claims, on exactly when the confession will air!

---

Marianne was the woman Newt was cheating with when he was breaking his marriage vows to wife number one. Now Marianne is bitter because he was cheating on her with Callista.

Boo-frickin-hoo. Tell us something we didn’t already know.

I really don’t want to know the intimate details of Newt’s sex life. I already know waaaaaaaaay too much.

---