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Two photos are being circulated of Gingrich shaking hands with Arafat, one from 1993 and one from 1998, with the context stripped away, to imply that Newt was formerly friendly with Arafat and then "changed" his position. The 1998 photo is the easiest to address because it is the most amply documented. That photo was taken during Gingrich's trip to Israel and I will let the news stories from the time speak for themselves. After days of angering Palestinians by publicly siding with Israel, House Speaker Newt Gingrich was upbeat about his talks yesterday with Yasser Arafat and insisted he...

Since it was first held 32 years ago, the South Carolina Republican primary has been won by the party’s most electable candidate, the one backed by the Republican establishment and invariably the winner of the nomination. On Saturday, the state veered in an extreme direction, and the outcome spoke poorly for a party that allowed itself to be manipulated by the lowest form of campaigning. Newt Gingrich won the primary by a decisive margin of 12.5 percentage points, and there is no mystery about how he did it. Two-thirds of voters interviewed in exit polls said they made their decision...

ORANGEBURG, S.C. - - Newt Gingrich trundles into the meeting hall - - a former X-rated movie theater - - to rapturous applause. He is not the best-looking guy in Republican race or the best-funded or the most ideologically pure. But he has found his shtick, and he is shticking to it. Newt Gingrich is the angriest man in America. Mitt Romney will tell you that Barack Obama is a “nice guy” but that he is “in over his head.” Newt Gingrich will tell you Barack Obama is “the most radical and most incompetent president in our lifetime!” Obama is...

I'm very proud of the party this morning. We all know here that the system works. Yesterday, the best man won, and the people of South Carolina can be equally proud. This small state, representing the demographics of the rest of this country, spoke loud and clear. We can now go back to the issues, and refrain from any negative ads, responses etc. You've won. You don't need to look desperate and petty like your opponents. The media, your opponents, the establishment including the countless misguided conservative analysts from Ann Coulter to Karl Rove will continue their assault on you,...

However WE must REMIND everyone that it is Romney who is the DEMOCRAT in this race: He was (or may still be) pro-abortion, He still is a pro homosexual agenda (though he claims to be for traditional marriage) candidate, He was anti-gun, He was a big spending taxer, AND WE ARE TO BELIEVE what he says?? No, Mr. Romney-per your concession speech: the PEOPLE chose; and you are NOT that true contrast with President Obama!

While insisting that she is not endorsing anyone at this time, former Alaska governor and GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin came very close to endorsing former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Saturday after his impressive victory in the all-important South Carolina primary. “I’m still not endorsing anyone at this time,” Palin told Fox News. But pointing to husband Todd’s endorsement of Gingrich, she added, “I think that endorsement was real reflective of a lot of Americans who understand that somebody with experience in cutting government budgets, cutting taxes — which does more for liberty and an economic turnaround than anything...

Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary, 40 percent to 28 percent, over Mitt Romney. He also won every Congressional district and, in doing so, won all of South Carolina’s 25 delegates. Now the battle heads to Florida, which holds its primary on Jan. 31. Here are five things to look for as the race heads to Florida. 1. Momentum versus organization Newt Gingrich will come into Florida with momentum, gained from winning South Carolina’s primary, which every Republican presidential nominee has won since 1980. But Romney has a head start in Florida. He has hundreds of thousands of absentee...

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Resentment lurks near the surface of the conservative political consciousness. Many voters believe (not always without cause) that elite, hipster liberals in academia and the coastal Big Media are sneering at them, their lives, and their beliefs. They see themselves presented as unsophisticated, bigoted, and quite possibly stupid. So Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was tapping into a powerful psychological current when he attacked the news media Thursday at the start of a CNN debate, responding to an ABC News interview with his ex-wife Marianne, in which she said he had demanded an "open marriage" so he...

BBC North America editor Mark Mardell, in South Carolina, says a Gingrich win is important, because all along the story of this race has been the search by Conservatives for an alternative to Mitt Romney. It is just possible they have settled on Mr Gingrich, and at the very least such a result will puncture the sense that eventually Mr Romney will triumph, our correspondent adds. Shortly after the vote, Mr Gingrich wrote on Twitter: "Thank you South Carolina! Help me deliver the knockout punch in Florida," referring to the next nominating contest on 31 January.

I can confirm tonight from multiple sources that phone calls are in fact occurring between Republicans in Washington and among evangelical leaders to raise money for Rick Santorum rapidly. The sources tell me that this is not for a Santorum win, though the evangelicals I spoke to continue to hope it is possible. This is to stop Newt Gingrich. One evangelical leader I spoke to said, “If Newt wins, we won’t be able to make family values an issue in the general.” One lobbyist I spoke to said, “They [the GOP leaders in DC] are really nervous about Gingrich and...

A victorious Newt Gingrich declared his improbable victory in South Carolina a “very humbling and very sobering” experience while challenging President Barack Obama to a series of seven, three-hour debates if he becomes the GOP nominee. “The biggest thing I take from the campaign in South Carolina is that it is very humbling and very sobering to have so many people who so deeply want their country to get back on the right track,” acknowledged Gingrich with his wife, Callista, by his side. Gingrich, who is often criticized for being overly bombastic, was nothing if not humble in his victory...

GOP Insider: “Guarantee You The Establishment” Will Ambush, Try To Replace Newt Cos “They Can’t Control Him” http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-U7DhuWhJAw

Please help Newt win Florida: http://www.newt.org/moneybomb/index.html

It was an exceptional evening for Newt Gingrich in South Carolina as he soared to a landslide victory over rival Mitt Romney Saturday night in the Palmetto State as supporters at his victory party welcomed him by chanting, “Newt can’t quit! Newt can’t quit!” “The biggest thing that I take from South Carolina is that it is very humbling and so sobering to have so many people who so deeply want their country to get back on the right track,“ Gingrich said. “It’s not that I am a good debater; it’s that I articulate the deepest felt values of the...

Newt Gingrich defeated Mitt Romney today to win today's South Carolina primary, boosted by a fiery debate performance this week that deflated the former governor's front-runner status overnight. Rick Santorum will place third and Ron Paul will be fourth first-in-the-South contest. Propelled by voters who were heavily influenced by the pre-primary debates, and a strong evangelical showing, Gingrich claimed a landslide victory, winning virtually every county in the Palmetto State save for a handful that went to Romney. "It's not that I am a good debater," Gingrich said in his victory speech tonight, surrounded by his family and an enthusiastic...

At the Romney HQ, the atmosphere was like someone died before a big party, but the caterers still arrived, standing glumly behind the cash bar. Supporters on bleachers behind the podium were prompted to chant "Florida! Florida!" as a way of pivoting attention forward from the debacle that was unfolding as Newt was declared the early winner. The state of the race has fundamentally changed in the course of one dizzying week. The inevitability narrative that surrounded Mitt Romney -- along with the claim that he was the only GOP candidate to ever win both Iowa and New Hampshire --...

Schmidt: "Not only are we not moving toward a coalescing of support with the establishment of Newt Gingrich, we're probably moving toward a declaration of war on Newt Gingrich by the Republican establishment. And if Newt Gingrich is able to win the Florida primary, you will see a panic and a meltdown of the Republican establishment that is beyond my ability to articulate in the English language. People will go crazy," And you will have this five week period until the Super Tuesday states that will be just as unpredictable, tumultuous as any period in modern American politics. It will...

Newt Gingrich Wins South Carolina Primary By Uniting Reagan Republicans By Van Hipp January 21, 2012 Newt Gingrich’s South Carolina State co-chairman John Napier knew the “Gingrich surge” was real last Sunday afternoon. Napier, a former U.S. Congressman and retired Federal Judge, pulled into the parking lot of the Land’s End Restaurant in Georgetown, S.C. for a Gingrich event expected to draw 25-30 people. Instead, over 350 people showed up before others had to be turned away. Napier said, “There were people there we hadn’t seen since Reagan ran.” Napier should now. He was swept into Congress from a rural...

Link Only, per rules: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-22/jeb-bush-cautions-republicans-on-tone-without-endorsing-any-candidate.html