Gingrich wins key vote, reshapes Republican race

Republican White House hopeful Newt Gingrich walloped rival and longtime frontrunner Mitt Romney in South Carolina's primary, dramatically reshaping the topsy-turvy race. The former House speaker, repeatedly declared politically dead over the past year, surged Saturday to a shock victory in the battle to become the party's standard-bearer against Democratic President Barack Obama in November 6 elections. With 100 percent of the precincts counted, Gingrich had captured 40.4 percent of the vote, compared to 27.9 percent for Romney. Gingrich triumphantly cast his insurgent win here as a blow delivered by Americans "who feel that the elites in Washington and New York have no understanding, no care, no concern, no reliability and in fact do not represent them at all." The result destroyed the aura of invincibility that had cloaked Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and had made him the man to beat in a race that now moves to Florida for its primary on January 31. "We need to build on this victory by going to Florida. I need your help," Gingrich told cheering supporters, asking supporters to help him bridge the fundraising chasm separating him from Romney's potent campaign machine. This race is getting to be even more interesting," Romney told cheering supporters packed into a room dressed up as though for a victory rally before congratulating Gingrich for "a hard-fought campaign." " "I don't shrink from competition. I embrace it. I believe competition makes us all better. I know it's making our campaign stronger," added the multi-millionaire investor, who is leading in the Florida opinion polls. South Carolina marked Gingrich's first triumph after Christian conservative former senator Rick Santorum squeaked out a victory in Iowa and Romney romped home in New Hampshire, dividing up the electoral spoils and bragging rights. After a tussle for third place in South Carolina, Santorum was at 17 percent with libertarian congressman Ron Paul on 13 percent. Gingrich's win rekindled doubts about whether the relatively moderate Romney, the favorite among the party's establishment, can rally its conservative core which views him with suspicion. Voters said they had chosen Gingrich over Romney because of the former speaker's perceived toughness that they expect him to demonstrate in the contest against President Obama. "It's time for a bulldog president," said Rema Thomas, 60, who lives in the town of Chapin and decided to vote for Gingrich after watching the two South Carolina debates. "Grab them by the pant leg and don't let go until you draw blood. That's Newt." Romney's defeat in the southern state turns what he hoped would be a sprint to the nomination into a marathon, where his rivals must somehow overcome his more sophisticated, well-oiled operation. "Beyond the media impact, and some momentum, the fundamentals -- money, organization, and endorsements signifying establishment support -- still favor Romney," said Matt Dickinson, a political scientist at elite Middlebury College. Still, after benefiting from seeing conservative voters fractured among several candidates, Romney could face a real threat if Gingrich manages to "establish himself as the anti-Mitt," Dickinson told AFP. And while he has labored to push his support above 25 percent of Republicans nationwide, Romney has benefited from a fractured conservative field that has divided voters looking for an alternative. Santorum praised Gingrich for his "great victory" adding "he kicked butt." "There's a momentum for Newt and he capitalized on it," he told CNN, reassuring supporters that he would not bow to pressure to quit to allow conservatives to coalesce around one candidate. "We have conservative organizations we just got together and started endorsing us this week. We think for the long-term, we're going to be in much stronger shape." With three winners in first three contests, the Republican fight's "epicenter" is now vote-rich Florida, Susan MacManus, professor of political science at the University of South Florida, told AFP. "Republicans are well aware, not just Florida Republicans, but elsewhere, that if a Republican candidate cannot win Florida they are probably not going to win the White House," she said. Romney, often accused by conservatives of being too much like Obama, immediately set about escalating his attacks on Gingrich, attempting to convince voters that that accusation stuck better to the former House speaker. Romney said Gingrich's attacks on his business record were a "frontal assault on free enterprise" and its supporters, telling the crowd "he's attacking you" and warning such a candidate was "not going to be fit to be our nominee." Gingrich rose in South Carolina with a series of feisty debate performances, and drew a standing ovation Thursday with a blistering reply to a question about his marital woes, a query he denounced as "despicable."