Posted on 01/11/2012 7:47:12 PM PST by VinL
ATLANTA -- As the GOP races settles into South Carolina, Mitt Romney isn’t enjoying the double-digit lead he held in New Hampshire, according to a survey conducted Wednesday night.
The former Massachusetts governor’s lead is so small in the Palmetto State that he’s essentially tied with Newt Gingrich, according to a poll for the Savannah Morning News and the Augusta Chronicle conducted by InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research.
Romney’s 23 percent and Gingrich’s 21 fall within the 3.6 percent margin of error. Rick Santorum, who came in second in the Iowa caucus is in third place in South Carolina with 14 percent, while Ron Paul, the runner up in New Hampshire, is effectively tied with him at 13.
Jon Huntsman has 7, and Rick Perry has 5 while 17 percent are undecided or favor a candidate not offered as a choice in the survey.
The telephone survey questioned 726 registered voters who said they were likely to vote in the South Carolina GOP primary. Voters don’t have to be Republicans to participate in the Jan. 21 balloting, but independents generally make up a small share of the total, according to pollster Matt Towery, president of InsiderAdvantage.
Romney, Gingrich and Paul all do equally well with the independents in the survey. Paul, though, is getting little traction from long-time Republican voters.
Romney does better with female voters while men prefer Gingrich.
“This is not good news for Mitt Romney,” said Towery, who chaired several of Gingrich’s congressional campaigns before becoming a non-partisan pollster. “There is no other way to put it. This means it is a dead-even race. South Carolinians couldn’t care less about New Hampshire or Iowa.”
Romney, on his second try for the nomination, won the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary this month, the first non-incumbent Republican to do so. However, those back-to-back wins don’t seem to be giving him overwhelming momentum this far South.
Gingrich represented the western part of neighboring Georgia for 20 years in Congress and apparently knows how to appeal to southern voters who tend to be more concerned about social issues than those in New Hampshire.
The Jan. 21 GOP primary in South Carolina is regarded as the first meaningful contest because of what the results will signal for the party's chances of defeating President Obama in November. Of course, it's also stoking anticipation because of the legendary ruthlessness of the state's political operatives.
Republicans in South Carolina like to remind people that their primary picks presidents, or at least presidential nominees. Since 1980, when Ronald Reagan won 55 percent of the vote, no candidate has captured the Republican nomination for president without notching a win in South Carolina's GOP primary. In the 2008 election, eventual-nominee John McCain won the South Carolina primary with more than 30 percent of the vote, trailed by Iowa winner Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson. Romney came in fourth in South Carolina with about 15 percent.
This time, the results will be dramatically different, as the state's active Evangelical voting bloc is expected to set aside prejudice in favor of pragmatism. Support among their ranks may signal that they accept Romney, a Mormon, in part for being the candidate largely believed to offer the toughest challenge to President Obama.
Since Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, where Romney steamrolled his rivals with nearly 40 percent of the vote, the candidates have swarmed the Palmetto State. They are stumping at barbecue joints, pharmacies, universities and local government buildings. On Monday, the candidates are scheduled to participate in a debate in Myrtle Beach, hosted by the SCGOP, Fox News Channel, The Wall Street Journal, and Twitter.
Some are seeing the Palmetto State as their last chance to justify their candidacy.
OK, so, since I’m sure you’re a good conservative and support the first amendment, the next time they try to teach homosexuality to children in grade school, I hope you’ll be a good conservative and not criticize them for exercising their free speech rights.
Bain socialized their losses by taking advantage of government bailouts, pension insurance funds, banks absorbing losses through bankruptcies, etc. Try to find me one example where a company Bain took over went bankrupt and Bain actually lost money on it. So far the stories coming out have shown that Bain gamed the system to make a profit on the backs of other people no matter what happened. For example, they kept the money for themselves instead of putting it into a guaranteed pension fund and a government agency then had to bail out that pension fund.
Santorum isn’t nearly as conservative as Perry, especially on fiscal issues. Santorum hasn’t been in an executive branch, has never been in the military, and was a mediocre senator. Plus, he’s a lawyer.
Santorum should drop out now.
Are you kidding me? Of course I’m for free speech however that should be left to the parents and not a Government Bureaucrat... I don’t believe this should be taught in school!
Are you kidding me? Of course I’m for free speech however that should be left to the parents and not a Government Bureaucrat... I don’t believe this should be taught in school! Do you know that Bain did this or you just repeating the left!!!
And another Limpbough drone speaks out, cluelessly. Huh?
I assure you that I am not for illegals being here period! I don’t want them working here. I don’t believe in giving money to illegals or their anchor babies. We need to change this amendment or remove this amendment from the constitution! Use the illegals that cross the border to build the Border wall then send them home!
In other words, some principles of capitalism and conservatism are contradictory.
How did you figure that out? I am perfectly consistent! I believe in free markets and I am Anti big government.
close the borders. I am for the constitution all of it. Even the 1st amendment which says separation of Church and state. 2nd amendment where you can only have hunting rifles and shot guns.... etc!
A true capitalist doesn’t care about closed borders, he cares about the bottom line, period. If labor costs can be reduced by use of illegals it increases profit. Now you’re picking and choosing. Which is it? Profits or principle?
I am a true conservative and you are a Ron Paul supporter! I will not answer any more of your questions! Ron Paul is not a conservative. He is however wacky in my book!
Typical. Lose the argument intellectually, resort to name calling. I’m laughing now at your failure. You protest a bit much, Ronulan!
I used to live in NN; worked at the NNS&DDCO as an apprentice many years ago. Lived downtown on 51st, 52nd and in a storefront on Jefferson Ave ? Lived in some apts on the backside of Hilton Village. Take it back that was Jeff; lived in a storefront on Huntington, later on we lived in a storefront on Warwick across from the Blue Star Diner just south of Hilton Village; was in a Christian rock band,etc.
Had some really good times there- was back visiting about 5 years ago.
God Bless, used to cruise my bike around where you live, I remember a little bridge by a park there with concrete lions at either end, sound familiar?
Yes, that is the Mariners Museum Park... Largest private park in th country. Love it. It is on all my running and bike routes!
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