Michael Barone reports in the Washington Examiner:
Rasmussen Reports’ latest poll, to be released just minutes from now, shows Newt Gingrich taking the lead in South Carolina.
The poll has Newt Gingrich leading Mitt Romney by two points. It’s not a significant lead, but Rasmussen’s polling from before Monday’s debate showed Romney leading Gingrich, 35 to 21 percent. The full topline result:
Gingrich……33%
Romney……31%
Paul…………15%
Santorum….11%
Perry…………2%
Other…………1%
Not Sure…….6%Also notice the clue as to why Rick Perry just dropped out.
Now we will see what impact, if any, the Marianne Gingrich interview (which airs tonight after the debate) will have on Saturday’s primary. As Allahpundit mentioned yesterday, Newt’s past indiscretions have been common knowledge for some time now, so it’s probably reasonable to assume that most voters – especially GOP primary voters – have already taken them into account as they evaluate Newt as a candidate. And still Newt edges out Romney, at least in this poll, after trailing by 14 points prior to Monday’s debate.
Very interesting.
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