Gingrich: S.C. is the Key

In politics, eight weeks can be a lifetime. 

It was just eight scant weeks ago that Patch first noted that a Newt Gingrich boomlet just might be in the making. On a weeknight in Columbia, Gingrich and his wife, Callista, visited the capitol city on the heels of fresh polls noting that the once moribund and once completely-given-up-for-dead campaign of the former House Speaker showed signs of life.

On that night, the Gingrich's showed up to screen a movie they had produced, promote their most recent books, and take some questions from the audience after a perfunctory stump speech. The GOP presidential candidate drew close to 70 folks that night, along with a tiny handful of media. 

It was a receptive crowd, but one that — at the time — seemed more interested in getting their book signed by a 90s political icon than one energized by being in the presence of their potential 2012 GOP presidential nominee.

But, that was then. This is now.

On Tuesday, in Newberry, with Gingrich gaining ground in polls in Iowa and New Hampshire — and seemingly mounting a insurmountable lead in South Carolina with just two months before the state's primary — hundreds packed the town's historic Opera House to hear Gingrich speak, joined this time by a legion of local, state and national media.

And, by all accounts, Gingrich killed.

"I never knew he was so funny!" said an enamored septuagenarian from Saluda.

"He seems to speak for me," said a retired machinist from Clinton who added he longed "for a man like Gingrich who thinks like Reagan."

"I think he can win it all. Beat Obama. All that. I feel much more certain of that after tonight," said a former corrections officer now retired to Newberry.

But what about Newt's baggage (three marriages, and his ties to Freddie Mac, for instance)? Or the pundits saying he is just the latest "flavor of the month" and destined to fade? And his critics calling him just another Washington insider more interested in selling books and making money off the campaign than actually becoming president?

"Did you hear him? Have you been listening to him?" said George Boothe, a 62-year-old from Columbia, incredulous. "If you had, you'd realize he's given more thought to what's wrong with this country and how to fix it than all these other pretenders combined."

South Carolina is the 'decisive primary'

Far from the greasy-spoon cafes, sterile conference rooms, and cavernous gyms typical of the campaign trail, the Newberry Opera House creates a unique vibe. 

The Opera House is a performance space, with a formal, seated floor, and two levels of balconies. And Gingrich seemed to make the most of the packed venue. Part historical and political lecturer, part stand-up comedian, Gingrich took center stage, looking and sounding like the front-runner he suddenly finds himself.

Wearing a headset mic, Gingrich held court for nearly 90 minutes, garnering applause and laugh lines throughout by hitting on such well-worn campaign themes as immigration, jobs, and the intransigence of a Washington bureaucracy he said stymies efficiency and growth.

Gingrich held fast to Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment — "Thou Shall Not Speak Ill of Fellow Republicans." Instead, Gingrich held his fire for President Obama, calling him "inept" and a "radical" who must be defeated if America is to succeed and prosper — and he told the crowd that for him to have a chance to unseat Obama, South Carolina will ultimately hold the key.

"I think we have a very real chance," he said. "I do ask you to be with me, and I do believe South Carolina is the decisive primary. With a tradition that began here in 1980 I do believe if I win here, I will be the nominee. So you are extraordinarily important to what we're doing…. I don't want you to be for me; I want you to be with me."

"But, if you know anyone in Iowa or New Hampshire … call them or email them and tell them we need their help," he said to laughter.

"This, in my judgment, is the most important election in my lifetime," he said. "It's the widest choice we've had in a lifetime."

Gingrich's Newberry stop was one of several he has made in the state the past few days. He makes one more stop in Greenville this morning, at Tommy's Ham House, before heading back to Iowa to campaign. 

While in Newberry, Gingrich took a number of questions from the audience. One of those questions dealt with morality. The issue of morality is now dogging former front-runner Herman Cain, accused of sexual harassment and marital infidelity, and could likely dog the thrice-married Gingrich as his campaign gains steam.

"My moral foundation is a belief in God and a sense that all of us are imperfect and have to seek both mercy and reconciliation with God in order to have any hope of a reasonable life," Gingrich said to applause.

And what if Gingrich should actually win? said a questioner. How will a Gingrich presidency transcend the gridlock and partisanship that now marks Washington?

"My intention is to govern as an 'American' president," he said, "to try to reach out to every Democrat I can find some common ground with. And even with some liberals on some issues there will be a space where you can find a way to work together without giving up our principles."

Gingrich noted success in the 80s in a Democratic-controlled Congress to pass Reagan-era tax cuts, and then welfare reform passage in the 90s during the Clinton Administration, as examples of what can be done across parties and what Gingrich said he'd strive to do as president.

"Lots of people have specific good ideas, and if you start weaving them together you start changing the whole psychology of the city," he said. "And all of a sudden people get started talking to each other and then all of a sudden things get done. 

"Bill Clinton and I understood something quite clear: If I didn't get his signature, we weren't going to get it done. If he couldn't get me to schedule it, he wouldn't get to sign it," he added. "He'd explain what he couldn't do; I'd explain what I couldn't do, then we'd figure out what we could do together.

"If you do that relentlessly — and it's exhausting — but if you do that relentlessly, it's amazing what you can get done by the time it's over."