It's The Newt in South Carolina

Newt Gingrich had his way against Mitt Romney last night in the South Carolina primary. Pols were saying yesterday morning that it would be Newt by as much as 6%. Now, as I type this, it’s Newt by 12%. So, Okay, Santorum wins Iowa, Romney wins New Hampshire, and now Newt wins South Carolina.  This has not happened in living memory. Republicans are in complete disarray.

Fact: Mitt Romney has something to hide in the way he has paid his taxes or in the way he has hidden his assets in offshore banks. This is doubtless what was going through South Carolinians’ minds in the run up to the election.

Fact: Rick Santorum has ethics problems. While serving in the Senate, he received a mortgage loan at a preferred rate from an exclusive bank run by campaign donors. One requirement for participating in these preferred loans was investment in the bank, something that Santorum has not done. Santorum was also behind a federal earmark for an $8 million to a contractor who also donated to Santorum’s charity.

Fact: Ron Paul is a closet Libertarian who will never, not in a hundred lifetimes, be electable.

And finally, fact: Newt Gingrich is a big-government mainstream conservative. Fact: Newt Gingrich was rejected by his own party and hounded out of office. And fact: Newt Gingrich’s family values should make social conservatives cringe. I am guessing we will be seeing this and similar images on the internet and on TV more than a few times.

You might just now say that this election is Barack Obama’s to lose. Republican candidates can’t have done a better service to the Democratic cause.