As the debates heat up, Mitt Romney is trying to find a way to stay on top for the upcoming Primary in South Carolina this weekend that could win him the GOP nomination later this year.
After making history as the first non-incumbent candidate ever to take both Iowa and New Hampshire, Romney has set his sights on South Carolina, a state that history suggests is important to win in order to earn the Republican nomination.
According to an article by NPR, every Republican candidate to take South Carolina has gone on to receive the presidential nomination. Even as the tension rises, Romney has managed to hold a steady 10-point lead over his fellow candidates. But it will take a wider margin before Romney can relax.
Fellow candidate and former Speaker Newt Gingrich is trailing Romney as a close second with only two days to go, according to recent polls by MSNBC, and he’s determined to close the margin as much as possible before polls open Saturday.
“Any vote for Santorum or Perry, in effect, is a vote to let Romney become the nominee,” Gingrich told The New York Times. “From the standpoint of the conservative movement, consolidating into the Gingrich candidacy would, in fact, virtually guarantee victory on Saturday.”
According to the same article, however, the ever-heating tension between Gingrich and Rick Santorum throughout the South Carolina debates only fuels the Romney campaign by dividing the support for their own.
But that’s not the only factor in Romney’s favor. Laura Wolvier, a South Carolina primary expert, informed readers of The Washington Post on other key information that could help Romney’s campaign in South Carolina Saturday.
“In the past, there were not this many candidates coming into the South Carolina Republican primary,” Wolvier said. “This many candidates … divides the evangelical and very socially conservative voters, which helps Mr. Romney stay a plurality winner.”
Only time will tell whether or not Romney will come out on top for the third time in a row, but the achievement would be another history maker.
