- VoB SELECTS: INVESTIGATIVE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB
Texas Gov. Rick Perry dropped out of the GOP race for President early today in So. Carolina.
FORMER SPEAKER GINGRICH
Terms him a ‘conservative visionary’
NEWT’S NOT PERFECT, BUT WHO IS?
UPDATE (Sat., Jan. 21st @ 8:30 PM): GINGRICH WINS SO. CAROLINA PRIMARY IN MAJOR UPSET; defeats former front- runner Romney by wide margin, 41-26 percent in early returns
UPDATE (Fri., Jan. 20th @ 3 AM): ROMNEY STRIPPED OF IOWA CAUCUS VICTORY
The Iowa Republican Party has determined that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who had apparently won that state’s first-in-the-nation presidential test — the January 3 Iowa caucuses — by eight votes, in fact lost to former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) by a margin of 34 votes.
As such, the Iowa GOP said the party would not name an official winner because of the closeness of the results and the inability to count some of the votes.
Santorum however pronounced himself the winner.
Two days before the pivotal South Carolina primary, Texas Gov. Rick Perry abruptly dropped out of the Republican presidential race, throwing his support to Newt Gingrich and endorsing the former House of Representatives speaker as what he termed a “conservative visionary.”
Perry told a packed news gathering Thursday morning in North Charleston, S.C., “Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?” according to an early report in the New York Times.
“The fact is, there is forgiveness for those who seek God,” Perry declared. “And I believe in the power of redemption, for it is a central tenet of my Christian faith,” an apparent reference to former Speaker Gingrich’s highly publicized marital infidelities.
“Mr. Perry reached the decision on Wednesday night, his aides said,” as the Times reported less than two hours ago, “and informed Mr. Gingrich of his plans to leave the race. He was planning to fly home to Texas shortly after his announcement.
‘HEART OF A CONSERVATIVE REFORMER’
“‘I have no question that Newt Gingrich has the heart of a conservative reformer,’ Mr. Perry said, adding that the Republican Party cannot squander its opportunity to put forward a ‘conservative leader who can bring about real change,’” the Times reported.
According to his aides, Perry has no current plans to campaign alongside Gingrich in South Carolina, the third test — after Iowa and New Hampshire — in the Republican race for a nominee to oppose Democratic President Barack Obama next November.
“It remains an open question what effect his [Perry’s] endorsement of Mr. Gingrich will have on the South Carolina primary on Saturday,” the Times noted. “But with only four Republican candidates remaining in the race, conservatives are urging voters to coalesce around one alternative to Mr. Romney.”
Ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich was described today by former GOP opponent Rick Perry as a ‘conservative visionary.’
OTHER DROPOUTS
Former candidate Jon Huntsman, the ex-governor of Utah, dropped out of the race on Monday, and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) withdrew January 4 after losing the Iowa caucuses the day before.
Perry, who was surrounded by his wife and family at the brief press conference, did not mention former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — the GOP frontrunner, who won in recent weeks both in Iowa and New Hampshire — by name.
However, the Times noted that “his praise of Mr. Gingrich, along with his repeated calls for Republicans to elect a true conservative, seemed to be a direct shot at Mr. Romney.”
‘A FRESH LAYER OF UNPREDICTABILITY’
According to the Associated Press, Perry’s withdrawal adds “a fresh layer of unpredictability to the campaign two days before the South Carolina primary.”
“While the ultimate impact of Perry’s decision” is unclear, the AP said, it reduces “the number of conservative challengers to Mitt Romney.”
In addition to Romney and Gingrich, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) remain in the race.
The decision also reinforces “the perception that Gingrich is the candidate on the move in the final hours of the South Carolina campaign,” the AP observed, “and that front-runner Romney is struggling to hold onto his lead there.
“Perry had scarcely finished speaking when Gingrich issued a statement welcoming the endorsement,” the AP report said.
— VoB Staff report
READ THE NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE IN ITS ENTIRETY (click here) as well as the AP coverage (click here).
