Newt actually pulled it off, winning South Carolina.
It proved to be an easy victory Saturday in the South Carolina primary, blowing a hole in former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s aura of inevitability.
The result marked a swift and extraordinary turnaround in Gingrich’s fortunes — thanks largely to strong performances in two debates, in which he appealed to the state’s strident conservatism and threw Romney off his stride.
Next stop Florida, and a nasty campaign.