Toward the end of “Why Newt Gingrich Won't Be the Republican Presidential Nominee,”

I wrote that Newt Gingrich would lose South Carolina and should consider withdrawing from the race.

 

He won and he won't.

So, as Rick Perry said - the only memorable thing he said - “OOPS!”

With egg on my face and eating crow, I stand corrected by the voters of South Carolina. I was dead wrong.

South Carolina was to be Mitt Romney's knock-out punch.

Instead, Romney got a sound shellacking: he got whooped good as we say around these parts.

It looks like it's gong to be slog along, hunker down time.

The  Romney campaign had that strategy on  hold but now it's the operative plan.

The following is an excerpt of that post South Carolina strategy from Jon Ward of the Huffington Post - which is definitely no friend of  Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney or conservatives generally:

“The Romney campaign will 'blow up the bridge marked 'Early Primary Win' and retrench further back inside its campaign fortress, where it is in fact prepared and ready for a long primary. The campaign has been organizing in many of the early primary and caucus states for months, and has the organizational capacity and the money to fight until the end. (Italics added).

Romney's nightmare scenario is one in which Gingrich wins South Carolina and gathers so much momentum from his victory that he goes on to win Florida on Jan. 31 and becomes something of a frontrunner. Even if that were to happen, though, the month of February will present new challenges for Gingrich. (Italics added).

Four states will hold caucuses in early February, and they will likely be dominated by Romney and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), both of whom have been organizing in those states. After those, the next contests will not occur until Feb. 28. (Italics Added).Whether or not Gingrich gathers momentum during the month, then, depends more on his campaign's messaging than it does on voters.

During that long stretch of dead time, the Romney campaign is confident that it can essentially persuade Republicans that Gingrich is what they have argued he is this week: an unreliable and unpredictable human being who cannot be trusted with the presidency. They fully expect Gingrich to help them make that case, by making comments or behaving in a way that demonstrates his lack of discipline...”.

For those who're  looking for  a Debater In Chief - not a president - there are two more scheduled this month - one tonight. Then there won't be another debate until February 22 prior to the Arizona and Michigan primaries February 28.

Looking ahead, Newt Gingrich's biggest problem remains Newt Gingrich. And with Ron Paul and Rick Santorium still in the race - especially Paul – the Anybody But Romney vote is split.

We've now had one caucus and two primaries - a mere blip on the screen. The list of upcoming GOP contests is mind boggling from here on. I lost count.

In the end, the organizational strength and financial resources of the Romney campaign and its ability to wage - if necessary - a long, protracted fight for the nomination - are formidable and not easily overcome.

Now it's on to Florida - the first mega-state primary with 10 media markets. For Mitt Romney, it's his firewall state. Florida will show who has the Big Mo - momentum.

A new poll just released from the American Research Group shows former House Speaker Newt Gingrich surging back into a statistical tie with frontrunner Mitt Romney in the very important South Carolina primary to be held on January 21st.  It also shows Texas Congressman Ron Paul picking up ground and by himself in 3rd place. 

Mitt Romney-29%
Newt Gingrich-25%
Ron Paul- 20%
Rick Perry-9%
Rick Santorum-7%
Undecided-7%
Jon Huntsman-1%

+ or - 4% Margin of Error

This poll clearly shows that the party as a whole, at least in South Carolina, is not content with Mitt Romney as the nominee.