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That's what I wrote about Newt Gingrich several months ago. It refers to their lack of discipline, their amoral ruthlessness in politics, their grandiosity, their verbal dexterity and equal dexterity with the truth, and all sorts of other character traits. It remains true now. Jenny Sanford sees part of it. Fiscal conservative stalwarts Jeff Flake and Jason Chaffetz describe another part of it. Yes, Marianne Gingrich saw lots of it, too, but it wasn't the sex part that was important, but his turning on conservatives, his"melting" around Clinton, his megalomania and psychological oddnesses, and other policy- and leadership-related things she...

It’s a regular feature of the 2012 GOP presidential debates — that moment when Newt Gingrich takes a deep breath, then proceeds to rip the insipid moderator and the conflict-and scandal-mongering press. Both Thursday and in numerous debates before, the former House Speaker’s stance suggested a candidate harboring deep bitterness toward the media ... The reality is very different. The same candidate who on Thursday decried “the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media” shows another face to the cadre of reporters who follow his campaign day-to-day. It’s not unusual for Gingrich to chat with reporters, off-the-record,...

A week ago, this South Carolina Primary overview would have been a lot easier to write: Mitt Romney was ahead of the nearest competitor by double-digits and things seemed poised for another victory for the perpetual front-runner. Then Newt Gingrich issued a knockout to the rest of the contenders in Monday’s FOX News Debate and everything was uphill for the Speaker from there. Sarah Palin kind-of endorsed him, Rick Perry dropped out and firmly endorsed him, and Newt again delivered a homerun performance in Thursday’s CNN Debate. A week of shake-ups have sent pollsters into a tailspin, with some showing...

GILBERT, S.C. — Mitt Romney and a top surrogate called for Newt Gingrich, Romney's chief rival for the Republican presidential nomination, to release the House Ethics Committee report that led to a reprimand of Gingrich and a $300,000 fine. After Romney was pressed on his tax returns, Gov. Nikki Haley (R-S.C.) stepped in and interrupted Romney. "The people of South Carolina are not talking about tax returns. They're not. They're talking about jobs, spending and the economy," she said before taking a shot at Gingrich, who is neck and neck with Romney in recent polls of South Carolina. "In all...

. . . o kick off the GOP candidates’ debate when last night’s moderator brought up the question of his ex’s allegation of his desire for an “open marriage,” Gingrich seemed to turn the tables by blasting the questioner and mainstream media generally for zeroing in on tawdry affairs in a presidential campaign. Gingrich’s retaliation drew a standing ovation from the debate audience. Not even the Ron Paulites have shown that kind of passion. Knight in shining armor If there’s a point in this it may be that each candidate is a complicated mix . . .

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: This is Howard Fineman last night on PMSNBC's The Last Word. Fineman now left Newsweek, as you know, and he's over at the Huffing and Puffington Post and they're having a discussion about Newt's debate performance last night. This was Howard Fineman's review. FINEMAN: Newt Gingrich, with this crowd and with these people here who want a fighter -- who like cockfighting, who like the hardscrabble, who like the confrontational approach -- that's what Newt Gingrich gives them. It may be shortsighted of them going down the road, but these people here in this state want to...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Let's go to the audio sound bites. This is the very beginning of it. This is John King opening the debate on CNN. KING: Mr. Speaker, I want to start with that this evening. As you know, your ex-wife gave an interview to ABC News and another interview at the Washington Post, and this story has now gone viral on the Internet. In it she says that you came to her in 1999 at a time when you were having an affair. She says you asked her, sir, to enter into an open marriage. Would you like...

Newt Gingrich’s fast rise here in South Carolina has left the political class very nearly assuming at this point that he’ll win the state, and the latest polling from Clemson will only help cement that expectation: Among poll respondents who had chosen or were leaning toward a candidate, this third Palmetto Poll showed Newt Gingrich (32 percent) leading the field over Mitt Romney (26 percent), up slightly from a month ago. Ron Paul came in third (11 percent), about even with his December poll rating. Rick Santorum remained in fourth place (9 percent), despite a significant jump over his ranking...

Surging presidential contender Newt Gingrich says he has a “very good chance” of winning the South Carolina primary Saturday and since his Palmetto State chances were not considered good until recent days, the victory would be an “earthquake” in his race for the Republican nomination. The former House speaker also told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren after Thursday night’s CNN debate his lot could lie with undecided voters. Read more on Newsmax.com: Gingrich Says SC Primary Win Would Be 'Earthquake'

Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin came to Newt Gingrich's defense Thursday night as allegations about his second marriage threatened his surge in South Carolina's primary. Hours before the airing of a controversial ABC News interview with Gingrich's ex-wife, Palin appeared on Thursday's radio edition of the "Sean Hannity Show." She noted that Marianne Gingrich's claim that Newt wanted an "open marriage" will do anything but damage his 2012 hopes. "I call them dumbarses," said Palin in the interview, referring to the media Read more on Newsmax.com: Palin Defends Gingrich on Marriage Charges

John King has joined Juan Williams as Newt Gingrich road kill. They have both been taught a harsh lesson: Newt Gingrich will not play the “gotcha question” game and he will turn such questions into smack downs of those who insist upon asking them. In just over 2 minutes Gingrich took King’s opening question about the charges being made by his former wife and flattened the pride of CNN to the delight of hundreds in a South Carolina auditorium and millions across the country. Newt’s smack down had us banging our fists and saying “Finally! Finally somebody is punching back!”...

During last night’s Republican debate, the candidates were asked to name something from the campaign that they would have done differently. Here was Newt Gingrich’s answer: I would skip the opening three months, where I hired regular consultants and tried to figure out how to be a normal candidate, and I would just go straight at being a big-ideas, big-solutions, Internet-based campaign from day one, because it just didn’t work. I mean, it’s not who I am. I’m not capable of being a sort of traditional candidate. I’m a very idea-oriented candidate. And I think the Internet makes it possible...

This certainly isn’t the meme a candidate wants the day before a critical primary:CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO Gallup’s Editor-in-chief Frank Newport appeared on MSNBC to talk about the polling organization’s national tracking poll of the GOP primary race, which is changing rapidly in the last few days of the campaign for South Carolina. Newport said when their new data comes out at 1 pm eastern, “…we’ll see this gap closing more. Romney was up 23 points over Newt Gingrich. Now it will be down about ten points, so clearly things are collapsing.” …“We have seen more movement, more...

Will Newt Gingrich stop Mitt Romney in South Carolina, or will Romney rack up another victory? Can Rick Santorum maintain any momentum from his showing in Iowa? Will Ron Paul surprise critics who insist he can’t win? We asked PostOpinions columnists, bloggers and editors how the candidates will stack up in Saturday’s South Carolina Republican primary election. JONATHAN BERNSTEIN Predicted standings: Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul Newt has taken a real lead in the polls and should hold it through Saturday. Perhaps the bigger question right now is whether Santorum finishes strong enough to stay in the...

Charleston, South Carolina (CNN) - With Newt Gingrich creeping up in the polls and potentially on the cusp of a South Carolina victory, one of Mitt Romney's senior advisers sought to change expectations ahead of Saturdays' pivotal presidential primary. Though his campaign has competed aggressively in the state and is hungry for a win here, Romney strategist Stuart Stevens said the idea of a loss to Gingrich on Saturday is not far-fetched. "Do I think we could lose South Carolina? Sure. Of course," Stevens told CNN after Thursday's presidential debate in Charleston. "The very idea that we are sting where...

There are a couple false "truths" which seem to be dictating much if not most of the Republican presidential race. One is that Newt Gingrich would be a great debater against President Obama. This accepted conventional wisdom is not only bogus; it is a myth of Herculean proportions. It appears that Gingrich's entire argument for the nomination is that he is the guy we want in a nationally televised verbal brawl with the media's all-time favorite candidate. Nary has an opportunity passed when Newt fails to, in his typically egomaniacal style and with great bombast, assure us that all will...

Charleston, South Carolina (CNN) - In what appears to be a last ditch attempt to halt Newt Gingrich's late momentum in South Carolina, a fake CNN Breaking News alert was emailed to state Republican activists early Thursday morning claiming that the former House Speaker pressured his ex-wife to have an abortion. CNN did not send out the email alert. It's not clear how many people received the fake email, though at least two members of the South Carolina GOP Executive Committee, who did not want to be named, were among those who found the missive in their inboxes this morning....

In what appears to be a last ditch attempt to halt Newt Gingrich's late momentum in South Carolina, a fake CNN Breaking News alert was emailed to state Republican activists early Thursday morning claiming that the former House Speaker pressured his ex-wife to have an abortion.-SNIP-.The email alert was sent from fake account made to look like a CNN breaking news email address: "BreakingNews@mail.cnn.com." "A source close to Marianne Gingrich tells CNN that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich forced her to abort a pregnancy conceived during the affair that preceeded her marriage to Gingrich," the fake email reads.

WASHINGTON - Texas Gov. Rick Perry's retreat Thursday from the race for the Republican presidential nomination is likely to be a permanent exit from the 2012 race. He makes a poor pick for vice president, SO WATCH NEWT PICK RAND PAUL!

Last night ABC News aired the much ballyhooed interview with Marianne Gingrich, Newt’s ex-wife. The ballyhoo was not warranted. The “interview” was not so much an interview as an 8-minute ABC News attempt to portray Newt in an unfavorable light interspersed with very short clips of Marianne. A prime example was Brian Ross asserting that Newt divorced his first wife while she was “being treated for cancer.” That account has been disputed, but no note of the dispute was made by Ross. There were only two sensational aspects of Marianne’s statement, neither of which ABC News tried to put in...