In less than 48 hours, Newt Gingrich will know if his good night was good enough.
The former House speaker was the standout — and early — star of Thursday’s CNN-hosted Republican debate in South Carolina, the last before voting begins in the first-in-the-South primary.
Below are POLITICO’s six takeaways on the crackling debate:
1) Newt Gingrich saw the pitch coming
Gingrich was looking for a fastball and proceeded to knock it out of the park. Yes, it’s a sports cliche, but it’s a fitting one here. Gingrich knew full well that CNN moderator John King would ask him about his ex-wife’s claims that the former House Speaker had sought an “open marriage” over a decade ago. And CNN made a clear choice to open with it, knowing that would make the network a part of the news story.
Gingrich came prepared.
The former Georgia congressman, who stoked debate hall crowds at several of these forums, had the audience on its feet applauding him as he bashed King, his network and ABC News for the “despicable” move to make his messy marital past part of the discussion.
The crowd ate up the red meat about the “elite media,” and the tone of the debate was immediately set. Nothing that happened after those first five minutes were anywhere near as memorable. Gingrich had the type of moment that GOP strategist Alex Castellanos has described as a critical “moment of strength.”
This is, of course, Gingrich’s specialty - whipping up the GOP base’s distrust of the mainstream media. He himself has said on the trail that it’s perfectly appropriate for voters to ask him about his personal history, a statement at odds with his indignation Thursday evening.
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