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Three new polls show former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gaining on Mitt Romney in South Carolina and emerging as the clear conservative choice of voters who are not backing the former Massachusetts governor for the Republican presidential nomination. An Insider Advantage/Majority Opinion Research survey completed on Thursday shows that Gingrich is actually in a statistical tie with Romney in South Carolina, with 21.3 percent of the vote to Romney’s 23.1. Gingrich leads Romney in several demographic groups, including voters 18 to 29 years old, black voters, male voters, and Independents. Ron Paul and Rick Santorum each received 13 percent of...

Pollster Scott Rasmussen has just released a new survey showing small gains for Newt Gingrich in South Carolina in the last week. In the new poll, Mitt Romney still leads the race with 28 percent, up from 27 percent in a Rasmussen poll a week ago, while Gingrich is in second place at 21 percent, up from 18 percent a week ago. Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are tied at 16 percent, but each reached that point in different ways. Santorum is down eight points from the 24 percent he scored immediately after his near-win in the Iowa caucuses, while...

Instead of getting a bounce, Romney’s poll numbers are sinking in South Carolina. As I suggested, this ad attack is powerful. He’s followed it up by painting him as governing pro-abortion. Krauthammer is right — Romney’s got to show he can respond. If these attacks work in a Republican primary, imagine how effective Obama will find them in November. BTW, no signs yet that the negative ads are hurting Gingrich, either.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCIV) -- The 17-year-old stood in front of a dark window on a crowded downtown streetscape, hands sweating and a look of nervousness on his face. He won't be old enough to vote in the upcoming primary, but he said he will be praying for Perry. That's exactly how the bright orange sign read that Joe Mitchell held high as the Texas governor approached on Thursday. "I won't be old enough to vote, but I will pray!! Perry 2012." Mitchell, a senior at Summerville High School cut class to meet the man vying to become the next president,...

Romney 30% Gingrich 23% Santorum 19% Paul 9% Perry 5% Huntsman 4%

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) was the overwhelming favorite in the Berkeley County GOP straw poll Saturday. Santorum won 52 percent of the 104 votes. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had a little more than 25 percent. Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney had nearly 13 percent. At the bottom of the list, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman had 5 votes and Texas Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul each had three votes.

These 2 "debates" were NOT aimed @ the "voters" in Mass. West(otherwise know as "New Hampshire"), they were aimed @ the voters in South Carolina and Florida.

(Reuters) - The knives will come out at back-to-back debates this weekend as Republican presidential hopefuls frantically jockey for position days before New Hampshire's key primary. Debates are once again the main show in the 2012 race after candidates spent two weeks on the road campaigning in coffee shops and pizza places through Iowa and now, New Hampshire.The six contenders will go at it twice within 12 hours, first on Saturday night and then again on Sunday morning. It is their last, best chance to sway large numbers of voters with New Hampshire set to vote on Tuesday.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made a strong play for votes in conservative South Carolina's primary on Thursday, . . . --snip-- McCain drew chuckles from the audience with a slip of the tongue near the close of his speech. "And so I am confident with the leadership and backing of the American people, President Obama will turn this country around," he said, inadvertently referring to the Democratic incumbent before repeatedly correcting himself with a grimace.

What a difference a caucus makes. Rick Santorum who two months ago had one percent (1%) support among likely South Carolina Republican Primary voters now is running a close second there with 24% of the vote. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the Palmetto State finds former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney still in the lead, earning 27% support from likely GOP Primary Voters, up from 23% in early November. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is in third with 18% of the vote, followed by Texas Congressman Ron Paul at 11%. Bringing up the rear are Texas Governor Rick Perry...

(RTTNews) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's surge in support in national polls has extended to the early primary state of South Carolina, according to the results of an American Research Group survey released on Tuesday. The poll showed that 33 percent of likely South Carolina Republican primary voters support Gingrich, with support for the former House speaker up sharply from 8 percent in a survey conducted in October. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney comes in second at 22 percent, down modestly from 25 percent in the two previous surveys.

Commentary By Daniel T. Zanoza, Executive Director It took a "perfect storm," but Sen. John McCain won the Republican presidential primary in South Carolina on Saturday. McCain eked out a victory over his closest challenger Mike Huckabee by the nearest of margins. However, it took a confluence of some strange events to help McCain pull out his unexpected win and the Arizona Senator should be sending a thank you note to both Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney. You see, Huckabee was expected to take South Carolina because of the high number of pro-family voters in that state. But former Tennessee...

SC Dems drop oath requirement for Tues. primary voters (Columbia-AP) Feb. 2, 2004 - South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Joe Erwin has dropped an oath requirement for voters hours before the state's first-in-the-South primary tomorrow. Erwin says he made the decision because the party was deluged in telephone calls complaining about the requirement that those voting tomorrow sign a statement that read "I consider myself to be a Democrat." Before the ruling change Tuesday, voters who don't sign the pledge would not have been allowed to vote. The policy could have kept independents and even some Republicans at home. The...

Since John Kerry's win in the Iowa caucuses, I've been asking myself this question: What does a South Carolina "Kerry supporter" look like? Where do you find them? I know where to find the Dean machine: Just hang out at any overpriced coffeehouse near the College of Charleston where students are listening to Radiohead and engaged in conspicuous smoking. You found 'em. And you can find the Sharpton supporters either at church or in the buffet line at a Florence, S.C. downtown hotel, explaining how Rev. Al's luxurious suite and eye-popping room-service bill aren't violations of the NAACP's tourism boycott....

Edwards Energized; Dean's Done Forget the polls, the pundits, forget even his lousy performance in Iowa: Howard Dean was never going to be president because the guy is just too weird. While Americans might vote for liars, draft dodgers and serial adulterers (and sometimes all three at the same time), we don't like weirdos. Howard Dean is the Michael Jackson of American politics: a walking, talking freak show. Before Iowa, Dean's oddball air was seen through his personal life: He grew up on Park Avenue. He doesn't go to church. His wife refused to campaign in public. They don't have...

Dean: A prophet ahead of his time? Posted: January 7, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com WASHINGTON, D.C. – Within four weeks, the Democratic nominee will probably be known, and this city believes it will almost surely be Howard Dean. The Iowa caucuses on Jan. 19, the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 27, and the South Carolina primary on Feb. 3, same day as half a dozen other caucuses and primaries, will tell the tale. The shrillness and savagery of the attacks on Dean by rival Democrats like Joe Lieberman underscore the point. They all understand that if Dean...