By Peak News Contributor Dave Diepenbrock
South Carolina's primary is history, but its lessons linger.
Newt's debate attacks on Obama and the press restored his "cred." South Carolina's big turnout further validated his win. Legitimate attacks work as well today as they did in 1974 when Gary Hart attacked Peter Dominick here in Colorado.
Second, evangelicals endorsing Santorum flopped. Today's social conservatives aren't “one issue” voters; they also want our economy fixed. As NPR noted about a recent Pew poll: “More conservatives combine both opposition for abortion and gay marriage with antipathy for deficits and the debt and a desire for significantly lower taxes." A unified GOP placed its bet – despite his peccadilloes – on Newt as their perfecta. Let's hope for united Colorado conservatives whether they are Main Street, Tea or social in stripe.
Third, Ron Paul took the younger libertarian vote that might, generationally, have helped our youngest candidate, Rick Santorum. Was South Carolina an anomaly or does Santorum lack a dependable base?
Fourth, don't count Mitt out yet. Just as Mitt won in next door New Hampshire, South Carolina is next door to Newt's Georgia.
We'll likely have an exciting caucus Tuesday, February 7. So go.
Your vote matters. Iowa, where two candidates were declared the winner, proved hanky-panky might decide a race. We who support voter ID understand this. Democrats full-throatedly oppose requiring ID. If they're not feeling they need Chicago-style phantom voters to win Colorado, why are they so up in arms? Are Obama's backers too wimpy to pull out their ID?
South Carolina, which legally requires voter ID, couldn't enforce that in this primary because of schoolyard bullying by the Obama administration. If the Department of Injustice had let states alone, we would know whether such a law would diminish turnout. Given this year's GOP enthusiasm, I think it would have made no difference at all in turnout…just what the DC liberal partisans in charge feared.