One of Newt Gingrich’s former wives is painting an unflattering portrait of the former House speaker that threatens to curtail his momentum in heavily evangelical South Carolina just two days ahead of the state’s Republican presidential election.
Marianne Gingrich, who was married to Gingrich from 1981 to 2000, said Thursday that he had asked her for an “open marriage” so he could continue his six-year extramarital affair with the woman who would become his third wife, Callista. She refused and they ultimately divorced.
In an ABC News interview set to air after Thursday’s presidential debate, Marianne Gingrich said the thrice married Newt Gingrich does not have the moral character necessary to be president.
Marianne Gingrich’s claims come at a precarious time for Newt Gingrich, who is rapidly gaining on front-runner Mitt Romney among Republican voters dominated by evangelical Christians. Two new polls show Romney ahead in the Palmetto State, but three others show Gingrich with a slight lead. All of the polls were done before Marianne Gingrich revelations.
Newt Gingrich’s surge in South Carolina followed a powerful debate performance earlier this week and is being fueled by the persistent desire of conservatives to find an alternative to Romney, who they perceive as too moderate. Gingrich also undoubtedly has benefited from a quasi-endorsement from former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who said she’d pick Gingrich if she were voting.
With the primary just a day away, voters are unlikely to forget Marianne Gingrich’s scathing revelations before heading to the polls, though the details of Gingrich’s messy private life, including two divorces, have been known for years.
“This just goes to solidify his image as the most arrogant politician in America,” South Carolina Republican strategist Wesley Donehue told The Washington Examiner. “What kind of man thinks it’s OK to ask his wife for an open marriage? Absolutely, it is going to hurt him here. Southerners don’t put up with that.”
While Gingrich’s infidelities were disclosed long ago, the latest claims from his second wife could make it much harder for Gingrich to win over the roughly 10 percent of South Carolina voters who now back former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who has no record of infidelity and who is emphasizing in his campaign the importance of family to American society.
Gingrich has signaled he is going after Santorum voters, but Santorum, not Gingrich, landed key evangelical endorsements in recent days.
Ken Brock, a retired banker from Columbia a board member of the South Carolina Christian Chamber of Commerce, predicted Gingrich would be able to weather the scandal and prevail over Santorum, who is now poised to finished last since Texas Gov. Rick Perry suspended his struggling campaign on Thursday.
“I think the electorate here is not as fundamentalist as most people think,” Brock, a Romney supporter, told The Examiner. “I think they get beyond that kind of stuff.”
Clemson University political science professor J. David Woodard said Gingrich won’t necessarily lose the support of South Carolina voters who have grown used to scandal after former Gov. Mark Sanford’s extramarital affair and persistent, though unsubstantiated accusations of infidelity during Gov. Nikki Haley’s campaign.
“Haley still won,” Woodard pointed out. “And Mark Sanford was not impeached. He went on and finished his term. I think our experience here is, so what?”
