Race heats up

Associated Press

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.

The race for the Republican presidential nomination took a turn toward the South Carolina surreal Thursday as Rick Perry dropped out, Newt Gingrich faced stunning allegations from an ex-wife and Mitt Romney struggled to maintain a shaky front-runner’s standing.

An aggressive evening debate capped the bewildering day.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum played aggressor for much of the night, struggling to inject himself into what seemed increasingly like a two-way race with less than 48 hours remaining until the South Carolina polls open Saturday. He accused Gingrich and Romney of “playing footsies with the left” when it came to health care. Both men rejected the allegations.

The debate began a few hours after first word that Romney had been stripped of his Iowa caucus victory, then had been stung by Perry’s withdrawal and endorsement of Gingrich.

Gingrich, in turn, was accused by an ex-wife of seeking an open marriage so he could keep his mistress.

“Newt’s not perfect, but who among us is,” said Perry, abruptly quitting the race just before the first-in-the-South primary.

His decision to end a once-promising candidacy left Romney, Gingrich, Santorum and Texas Rep. Ron Paul the remaining contenders in the race to pick a Republican to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama this fall.

Nine hours after Perry exited one stage, the four remaining contenders walked onto another for a final pre-primary debate.

Gingrich angrily denounced the news media for putting his ex-wife front and center in the final days of the race, but Santorum, Romney and Paul steered well clear of the controversy. “Let’s get onto the real issues; that’s all I’ve got to say,” said Romney, although he pointed out that he and his wife, Ann, have been married for 42 years.

All four remaining GOP candidates lustily attacked Obama, while Santorum in particular sought to raise his own profile.

Introduced to the audience, he mentioned his change of fortunes in Iowa, where an eight-vote defeat in kickoff caucuses was now a 34-vote advantage — though the Iowa Republican Party did not declare a winner.

Santorum jabbed at both Gingrich and Romney but seemed to focus more attention on the former. If Gingrich is the party nominee, he said, “you sort of have that worrisome moment that something’s going to pop. And we don’t need that in a nominee.”

Recent polls, coupled with Perry’s endorsement, suggested Gingrich was the candidate with the momentum and Romney the one struggling to validate his standing as front-runner. Whatever else the impact, the day’s events reduced the number of contenders vying to emerge as Romney’s principal conservative alternative.