Newt Gingrich's Ego Problem
Today's Newt Gingrich event in Florence showed Gingrich as his usual strong, outspoken self. But it also showed how big his ego could get, as he sought to consolidate the support of conservative Republicans behind his candidacy, telling the audience that "a vote for Santorum or Perry is wasted", criticizing fellow GOP candidate Mitt Romney as a moderate who Repubicans should unite against.
He also made sure audience members knew that Santorum "lost his state by the biggest margin of history". It's true, but it was hardly a generous gesture to the Santorum voters he was trying to talk into supporting him.
So why does Gingrich think he is "The One" for conservatives and all others are lost causes?
While both past results and present polling show Rick Perry's campaign is struggling to establish relevancy, there's plenty of reason to argue that Rick Santorum is still waging a viable candidacy, at least when compared to Gingrich.
In the most recent average of national polling on Real Clear Politics, Gingrich barely led the anti-Romney vote with about half the poll share of Romney. While Romney's average was 31.4 percent, Gingrich averaged 16.3 percent to Santorum's 14.4 percent, putting him right behind Gingrich. Ron Paul followed with 13.4 percent and Perry at 7.0 percent.
He also made sure audience members knew that Santorum "lost his state by the biggest margin of history". It's true, but it was hardly a generous gesture to the Santorum voters he was trying to talk into supporting him.
So why does Gingrich think he is "The One" for conservatives and all others are lost causes?
While both past results and present polling show Rick Perry's campaign is struggling to establish relevancy, there's plenty of reason to argue that Rick Santorum is still waging a viable candidacy, at least when compared to Gingrich.
In the most recent average of national polling on Real Clear Politics, Gingrich barely led the anti-Romney vote with about half the poll share of Romney. While Romney's average was 31.4 percent, Gingrich averaged 16.3 percent to Santorum's 14.4 percent, putting him right behind Gingrich. Ron Paul followed with 13.4 percent and Perry at 7.0 percent.
Also, Santorum left Gingrich in the dust in Iowa, finishing a close second (and maybe first) while Gingrich finished a distant fourth place. In New Hampshire, Santorum finished ahead of Gingrich, finishing fourth and fifth places respectively.
While Santorum is polling behind Gingrich in the upcoming South Carolina and Florida contests, Santorum would still have bested Gingrich in two of four states. Combined with their relatively close position in national polling, Gingrich is hardly the clear "front-runner" of the also-ran candidates - at least not yet.
"We are in the last few seconds of the Game. We have perhaps only 1 chance to choose the best man for the extra point that will give us a little more time before all Hell breaks loose on this Earth"
The choice is ours. May God help us to choose wisely.