Rasmussen: South Carolina: Gingrich 33%, Romney 31%, Paul 15%

[RonPaulFanInGA]

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2012/election_2012_presidential_election/south_carolina/election_2012_south_carolina_republican_primary

Gingrich takes the lead. This is not good. There's only room in this race for Romney and one not-Romney. If Gingrich wins in South Carolina, it's going to be him.

[runamuck]

You so sure about that? I think Gingrich winning SC actually throws so much uncertainty into the race that it will be good for Ron.

[trey4sports]

Let's just hope he can't pull off S.C.

That would be very bad for us.

[Indy Vidual]

This is good, to keep Mittens from being declared the clear winner.

[Schiff_FTW]

No way, we need Gingrich to win to destroy the narrative that Romney is the inevitable nominee. The Grinch has no staying power beyond South Carolina.

[coffeewithgames]

You so sure about that? I think Gingrich winning SC actually throws so much uncertainty into the race that it will be good for Ron.

Well, since 1980 the winner of SC wins the nomination, and clearly RP is not trying to win the Republican nomination...or the foreign policy issue would have been addressed long ago.

[runamuck]

No way, we need Gingrich to win to destroy the narrative that Romney is the inevitable nominee. The Grinch has no staying power beyond South Carolina.

Yep, I agree.

[wgadget]

Yep, split up those "frontrunners."

[cdw]

Awesome, this means we are actually 20% and will be well over that on Saturday.

[bobbyw24]

This is good, to keep Mittens from being declared the clear winner.

This

[Kords21]

As long as Ron Paul picks up delegates, that's a bonus since I don't think the campaign really expects too much out of SC, nothing out of FL. I just hope they're playing a game of political "rope-a-dope" and they'll kill it in the states between Florida and Super Tuesday. In comparison to Iowa/NH, the effort in SC seems half-hearted.

[economics102]

Gingrich is the perfect foil. He's (hopefully) giving Mitt a run for his money (no pun intended) meanwhile Gingrich is totally, hopelessly unelectable and in the eyes of many GOP voters Gingrich is a totally unacceptable GOP nominee.

[RonPaulFanInGA]

This is good, to keep Mittens from being declared the clear winner.

Are you more worried about Ron Paul actually getting the nomination, or this thing being dragged out for as long as possible?

People will vote for Paul in the later states, even if Romney is the "clear winner." No one will vote for Paul if the media narrative becomes: "a vote for anyone other than Gingrich is a vote for Romney."

[matt0611]

This is more preferable than a Romney - Gingrich - Paul outcome IMO.

[JohnGalt23g]

No way, we need Gingrich to win to destroy the narrative that Romney is the inevitable nominee. The Grinch has no staying power beyond South Carolina.

Actually, he probably does across the South. The problem is we have some Western primaries and caucuses coming up where he simpy won't play well. And he really doesn't have the coin to change public opinion.

[Occam's Banana]

I read an MSM article today that stated (en passant) that a Romney win in South Carolina would "clinch the nomination" for him.

Anything that disrupts the "Romney win in SC = Romney wins GOP primary" narrative is a good thing.

A Gingrich win would also help spread the delegate counts - also a good thing for when it gets down to only Romney vs. Paul.

[airborne373]

This data is two days old. It is nearly irrelevant given the recent news cycle.

[Inkblots]

Frankly, I think the best outcome we can reasonably hope for at this point is Romney not winning and Paul running a strong third place. Therefore, I'm happy with this result.

[JulioForPaul]

After today's news I would expect to see it as follows:

Romney 35%
Gingrich 25%
Paul 20%
Santorum 18%

[Erazmus]

Gingrich and Romney?

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3385/3480468593_d4ed2b2df4.jpg

[James Madison]

No way, we need Gingrich to win to destroy the narrative that Romney is the inevitable nominee. The Grinch has no staying power beyond South Carolina.

Disagree. There's a reason SC has picked the eventual GOP nominee since 1980. If Grinch wins SC, we need to destroy him immediately.

[Deborah K]

Well, since 1980 the winner of SC wins the nomination, and clearly RP is not trying to win the Republican nomination...or the foreign policy issue would have been addressed long ago.

Wrong. Clearly RP is not trying to win the NEOCON nomination!

[Odin]

A Gingrich win is the best result I think, hopefully Santorum gets out and then we will have debates between Romney, Gingrich, and Paul. That will give Ron Paul more time to speak about his views and convince more people. It would be great to have debates where Romney and Gingrich beat each other up while Paul has plently of time to communicate his views to people who do not yet understand them.

[RonPaul101.com]

I think this is good for Paul as well. If Romney runs away with it, there will be no room for passion among the voters to pick someone else. (notice how the Deomocrat side is right now; they know it's Obama for them and no one really cares.)

We need people to pay attention to the race to be able to have them as an audience. So one of the following things could happen:

1. Gingrich becomes the new top dog ongoing, and Romney fades away as he did in 2008. (I see this as good for Paul long term. Gingrich is easier to truth tell on with our ads and is a lot sleazier. Plus he negates the mormon vote of Idaho, Nevada, etc.,. AND hands us Ol' Virginia on a silver platter.)

2. Gingrich holds neck and neck with Romney for a while. (This isn't all that bad either, because it continues to give Paul a voice in this election. A voice coming from the only true conservative and military veteran who isn't a fraud, doesn't support bailouts or abortion, nor cheat on his dying wife. These two losers rip each other apart and Paul ends up the only clean choice, the only anti-establishment candidate.)

3. Gingrich wins SC but fails to amount to anything. (This is fine too, it breaks up the Romney streak without changing the political landscape. Basically it buys us time.)


All that said, it would be nice to dump the other Ricky as soon as possible.

[speciallyblend]

Let's just hope he can't pull off S.C.

That would be very bad for us.

if we do not WIN SC ,Then newt winning is the next best thing as we place 3rd. If we place within3-9% points of 1st or 2nd. Then 3rd place is a huge win for us as we move on. We are talking about SC, everyone flashback to 2008. We are Winning. If it is newt/romney/paul at convention. We will walk away with a Paul nomination. The Margin for 3rd to 1st is 18% We can beat that margin:) I still think they are under polling ron paul especially in sc.

[seapilot]

Disagree. There's a reason SC has picked the eventual GOP nominee since 1980. If Grinch wins SC, we need to destroy him immediately.

Romney campaign and PAC will be thinking the same thing. By the time they are done with him in Florida Newt will be a new four letter word.

[low preference guy]

Let's just hope he can't pull off S.C.

That would be very bad for us.

he=?

[tajitj]

No way, we need Gingrich to win to destroy the narrative that Romney is the inevitable nominee. The Grinch has no staying power beyond South Carolina.

Exactly, a Romney win by 5% like he was polling earlier in week means the media will make him winner of primary, Newt might ever drop out. I want Santorum and Gingrich to stay in and go after Romney. I do not like the narrative out of campaign making trying to make this a two man race. The Romney, Gingrich and Santorum pool are all from the same cut. We need to get out Dems and Indies out along with our 15% of GOPers in order to pick off some close races.

[Mordan]

we need to win VA

[Gravik]

SC isn't as big a deal this year as it was in 2008 since they lost what, half their delegates this year?

[jsem]

I'd say this poll is pretty accurate. I don't think Paul is going to grow much more, but we HAVE to beat Santorum.