The only Republican who can beat Obama The headlines Wednesday morning brought the stunning news that Newt Gingrich had surged to a 40-23 lead over Mitt Romney among likely GOP voters. But the more important story in the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll of 1,000 registered voters was what happened when Romney and Gingrich were pitted against Barack Obama. The president barely edged Romney 47-45, within the margin of error of 3.1 percentage points. Against Gingrich, Obama held a commanding 51-40 lead. Most importantly, half of all voters said they wouldn’t vote for Gingrich.

Something else occurred last week — Obama’s bitterly partisan class warfare speech in Osawatomie, Kansas, which provided a grim preview of how he would govern if re-elected. His intensely divisive rhetoric pitting American against American confirms the view of many voters that our country simply cannot afford four more years of Obama’s record-setting deficits, willy-nilly spending and soaring national debt. His re-election would mean continuing the policies that have brought economic stagnation and high unemployment, and putting federal bureaucrats between Americans and their doctors under Obamacare.