Lexington, Gilbert and Orangeburg,— On the last day before the South Carolina primary, the Republican presidential race turned into a duel Friday between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich , as conservative voters appeared to line up behind the former House speaker to try to defeat the former Massachusetts governor.
Polls completed at the beginning of the week put Romney ahead by about 10 percentage points, but Gingrich had as much as a 6-point lead in polling that ended Wednesday or Thursday. The same polls show former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum tied with Texas congressman Ron Paul or behind him.
Romney responded to Gingrich's late surge by calling on him to release the confidential documents behind the 1990s congressional ethics investigation that found Gingrich had mingled political and nonprofit enterprises and gave false information to investigators. Gingrich was reprimanded and fined $300,000.
The campaign takes its first day off tomorrow and heads to Florida’s Gulf Coast on Monday for an event in the Tampa area.
Gingrich, at a town hall meeting in Orangeburg in the South Carolina’s midlands yesterday afternoon, amplified his appeal to conservatives to rally around him to stop Romney.
“The only effective conservative vote to stop a Massachusetts moderate is to vote for me,’’ he told a crowd of several hundred here. “That’s what all the polls are showing.’’
In one of the nation’s most conservative states, Gingrich repeatedly served up big daily helpings of political red meat to a Republican base seething with anger and searching for a candidate who can beat President Obama in November.
South Carolina has been hit hard by the recession, and Gingrich’s blistering rhetoric and unwavering certitude plays well here. He often reminds South Carolinians that he is a “Georgia conservative.’’ The two states share a long border.
Gingrich received standing ovations at both televised debates in South Carolina this week, lashing out at the news media, a favorite target of conservatives and Gingrich. At many Gingrich events, supporters hold signs that say “Don’t believe the liberal media.’’
Polls completed at the beginning of the week put Romney ahead by about 10 percentage points, but Gingrich had as much as a 6-point lead in polling that ended Wednesday or Thursday. The same polls show former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum tied with Texas congressman Ron Paul or behind him.
Romney responded to Gingrich's late surge by calling on him to release the confidential documents behind the 1990s congressional ethics investigation that found Gingrich had mingled political and nonprofit enterprises and gave false information to investigators. Gingrich was reprimanded and fined $300,000.
The campaign takes its first day off tomorrow and heads to Florida’s Gulf Coast on Monday for an event in the Tampa area.
Gingrich, at a town hall meeting in Orangeburg in the South Carolina’s midlands yesterday afternoon, amplified his appeal to conservatives to rally around him to stop Romney.
“The only effective conservative vote to stop a Massachusetts moderate is to vote for me,’’ he told a crowd of several hundred here. “That’s what all the polls are showing.’’
In one of the nation’s most conservative states, Gingrich repeatedly served up big daily helpings of political red meat to a Republican base seething with anger and searching for a candidate who can beat President Obama in November.
South Carolina has been hit hard by the recession, and Gingrich’s blistering rhetoric and unwavering certitude plays well here. He often reminds South Carolinians that he is a “Georgia conservative.’’ The two states share a long border.
Gingrich received standing ovations at both televised debates in South Carolina this week, lashing out at the news media, a favorite target of conservatives and Gingrich. At many Gingrich events, supporters hold signs that say “Don’t believe the liberal media.’’
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