Graham: South Carolinians vote with head, heart

To a Campaign 2012 that already has seen many surprising twists and turns, you can add one more: A decisive win for Newt Gingrich in yesterday's South Carolina Republican primary. Jan Crawford reports from Columbia, S.C.:

He was counted out of the race just a few months ago . . . and finished at or near the bottom in Iowa and New Hampshire. But yesterday in South Carolina Newt Gingrich crushed the field - and turned the presidential race completely upside down.

"'People power' with the right ideas beats big money," he told the crowd. "With your help, we're going to prove it again in Florida."

He did it with two strong debate performances, where he excoriated the news media, the "liberal elites," and President Obama.

"If he is re-elected after the disaster he has been, the level of radicalism of his second term will be truly frightening," Gingrich said.

Gingrich won even though his second ex-wife Marianne went public just two days before the primary, saying Gingrich asked for an open marriage so he could continue an affair with a staffer 23 years his junior - Calista, who now is his third wife.

South Carolina voters forgave that sin. In fact, exit polls showed Gingrich won the evangelical vote decisively.

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Senator Lindsey Graham, who grew up in South Carolina, told us voters here want a candidate with strong convictions.

Graham told Crawford South Carolinians look for a candidate who appeals to the head and the heart, which is why this state has correctly picked the Republican nominee since 1980.

"The New Hampshire voter, great folks. They're very quiet. They look under the hood," said Graham. "They're that Northeasterner, you know, he's going to ask you 1,000 questions and keep checking you out. Iowa's more of an emotional experience.

"When you get here, we're looking for both," he said.

They found that in Gingrich, not Romney.

"The issue for Governor Romney in South Carolina was the heart issue - Could he have a passion for conservativism to sell what we all believe to a wider audience? That was his test," said Graham.

Last night in his concession speech, Romney showed some heart - signaling he intends to make sure South Carolina's streak of picking Republican nominees is over.

"I don't shrink from competition; I embrace it," he said. "I believe competition makes us all better. I know it's making our campaign stronger. And in the coming weeks, the ideals of free enterprise and economic freedom will need a very strong defense, and I intend to make it."

And former Senator Rick Santorum, who won Iowa but finished third here, vowed he would continue the fight."

"It's a wide open race. Join the fight!" he said.