COMMENTARY | The South Carolina GOP primary winner by a landslide last evening was Newt Gingrich. Earlier in the week the prediction was Mitt Romney would win. Was I surprised when Gingrich won with a blow-out last night? I was surprised that Gingrich won here by such a high (40 percent) of the votes. However, I am pleasantly surprised that SC voters made the right and practical decision in my opinion. I believe the fact that Gov. Rick Perry, and Sarah Palin (a popular with tea party supporters) who announced their endorsements for Gingrich this week helped sway voters from Romney to Gingrich.
The results, though not official yet, came out early around 7p.m. predicting Gingrich’s win. The final results, according to enr.scvotes.org are as follows: Newt Gingrich (40 percent), Mitt Romney (28 percent), Rick Santorum (17 percent) and Ron Paul with (13 percent).
The final debate on Jan. 19 in Charleston I believe swayed South Carolinian voters to support Gingrich because of his evident ability Thursday evening to put moderator John King in his place when asked about his recent personal controversy involving statements made by his ex-wife. This nation needs a leader with a strong and aggressive personality to stand up against Congress when necessary. We need a balanced budget and major debt reduction. Gingrich when he was Speaker of the House during the Clinton administration accomplished a four year back-to-back balanced budget per Gingrich during his speech last evening.
Romney hurt his chances of winning by his nonchalant attitude during the debate Thursday when asked if he would release his tax returns and when. His response was maybe and soon, but would not commit to releasing 12 years worth like his father or the date he plans to release them.
I find it interesting that according to MSNBC that now since Romney lost primary, he now says he will release his tax records on Tuesday.
What does Gingrich need to do next to keep his momentum going? He needs to raise money and aggressively campaign in Florida in hopes to win their primary to be held on Jan. 31. Romney needs to run a more assertive campaign and relate to voters on the important issues.
In summary, out of 2,804,231 voters, there were 603,014 ballots cast, and voter turnout was 21.5 percent. Hopefully the South Carolina voter turnout will increase greatly by election time.
Am I pleased with my vote? Absolutely. I voted for Gingrich and I firmly believe he is the only candidate we have to choose from that can defeat President Barack Obama. I believe it is critical that Obama leave the White House after one term so that the next president, hopefully Gingrich, can address and solve the nation’s major problems such as the economy, unemployment, national security, health care and producing a balanced budget.
These are the issues that concern me as a U.S. citizen. It is time to abolish the “elites” in Washington who are not concerned with the U.S. but caters to other nations.