It isn't that Newt beat rMoney - I think most polls (and most gut feelings of political junkies) over the past few days have been pointing to a Gingrich win in South Carolina. rMoney just can't connect with the proles, even GOP proles. And there's a lot of them in the South.
What has me scratching my head is the sheer magnitude of Newt's win tonight. I think I have the answer.
Newt has been blowing the racist dog whistle almost continuously over the past week or so. He's a southerner. It's not difficult (or unusual or unheard of) for him to do so. Gingrich has had a lot of experience in using the code words, pulling the right racial levers, and characterizing both blacks, hispanics, and poor whites as tit suckers.
Check out his dog whistle tonight:
Obama is "the most effective food stamp president in history," he said. "I would like to be the best paycheck president in American history."
Chris Matthews is on the TV right now saying the GOP is scared shitless of a Gingrich nomination, but in the same breath, wonders how rMoney can win the nomination, much less the general, with a continuing attitude like this:
Referring to Gingrich's criticism of his business experience, Romney said, "When my opponents attack success and free enterprise, they're not only attacking me, they're attacking every person who dreams of a better future. He's attacking you," he told supporters, the closest he came to mentioning the primary winner's name.
Translation: "Gingrich is attacking the 1%". rMoney's words weren't targeted toward the working class GOP in South Carolina. It was a calculated appeal to his monied patrons; to the true base of the Republican Party.
It's easy to say that the GOP nominating season is easily the craziest I've seen in my nearly 40 years as a registered voter. I'm going back quite a way trying to remember a nomination process that has been so bloody, or a field that is so inherently weak in terms of appealing to the vast majority of American voters in a general election.
What I'm starting to think about now is downticket races, and I honestly think that's what the DNC, OFA, and Obama campaign truly need to be focusing on at this point. You never, never want to think that you can phone in the results of a presidential election, especially this far out. Much can happen between now and October / November. But I do think that there's a window of opportunity for the Democratic Party, starting right now, to truly start hammering and promoting, particularly the red-to-blue potential pickups.
It's so clear that Pres. Obama is the only adult in the room. Do I have gripes with some of his positions and policies? Do I have complaints about how his advisers have dealt with the GOP in the House and Senate, on compromise after compromise? Yes.
But one thing that's been encouraging is the obvious stiffening of the White House spine over the past 30 or 60 days. It's encouraging. The disarray at the top of the GOP ticket has also enabled the Senate and House leadership to coalesce support around progressive issues, which is a good thing. Maybe the second half of the 112th congress will actually be able to move some positive legislation forward, with less obstruction by the GOP.
The magnitude of Gingrich's win tonight really tells me one thing: even Republican voters are fed up with the 1%. The further that the GOP primaries move into the heartland, the more this is going to become clear.
I'm starting to feel that, in Rick Perry's inimitable words (when he quit the race earlier in the week), there is no viable path forward for Mitt rMoney. We've underestimated the rancor of Republican voters against the 1%. It's the only way to explain the magnitude of Gingrich's win tonight, and Santorum's strong showing in Iowa.
How sweet it is.