He did it.
Former Massachusetts Governor and GOP front-runner Mitt Romney found a way to lose the South Carolina primary to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
The outcome in South Carolina isn’t just a disaster for Romney, but a disaster for the GOP.
The polarizing Gingrich surged to an unlikely landslide in the pivotal South Carolina primary on Saturday as conservative voters deserted establishment favorite Romney. Gingrich’s late rally comes as a huge blow to the Romney campaign, as no Republican candidate has ever won the contest and lost the nomination.
Romney, who held a 23-point leading going into primary week, could only watch as his aura of inevitability fizzled in a 41-27 percent margin of defeat.
The defeat ends a tumultuous week for Romney. As Gingrich was bolstered by an endorsement from Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s dropping out, Romney’s image of electability took a hit.
Romney’s unwillingness to release his tax returns, coupled with criticism of his role at the private equity firm Bain Capital, set off a firestorm of debate earlier in the week.
Gingrich skillfully played into the criticism of Romney, putting together two strong showings in debates throughout the week. Gingrich’s attacks on Romney’s business record and reluctance to release personal tax information swayed the conservative base overnight.
Gingrich’s impressive high just so happened to correspond with Romney’s dismal low.
The problem Republicans face now is a GOP contest severely fragmented from three different winners in three different states. No candidate has shown the ability to relate to conservative voters on the key issues.
Swing voters were turned away by Romney’s reluctance to disclose his tax information and saw his involvement at Bain Capital as a bad thing.
Romney’s campaign framed him as a job-creating candidate, and touted his time at Bain Capital as creating more than 100,000 jobs.
The problem? This figure is not substantiated.
A private equity firm’s sole purpose is to create profits for their investors, many times unconcerned with jobs being created or lost.
Romney’s support suffered a backlash, as his time at Bain Capital portrayed him as a “vulture capitalist” — looting companies, destroying pension funds and wiping out jobs while making the investors wealthy.
According to ABC, 28 percent of voters said that Romney’s history as a “vulture capitalist” was a bad thing. Of that 28 percent, Romney took just 3 percent, while Gingrich got 50 percent.
Romney’s insufficient damage control on the issue and his negligence in releasing his tax returns saw a major swing throughout the conservative voter base in South Carolina.
The conventional wisdom is that the nomination is now a two-person race, Romney vs. Gingrich, or Romney vs. someone who isn’t Romney but just so happens to be Newt Gingrich.
Mitt Romney can’t relate to the conservative base. Too many voters see him as overly moderate or liberal.
Newt Gingrich can’t dodge his own polarizing figure, as too many voters believe he has no chance to win over the independent voters.
The big problem the GOP faces now is that they don’t have a favored candidate to unite behind in the fall. The contest has become so severely fragmented among the candidates that it offers nothing but fodder for President Obama in his bid for re-election.
Romney’s strong chances at sweeping the nomination now look dubious, while Gingrich rides a wave of momentum that is sure to be short-lived.
The question facing conservative voters now is which candidate will have the perseverance to mount a sustainable national campaign.
I’d venture to say neither.
Matthew Westfall is a 23-year-old mass communication senior from Winchester, Va. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_mwestfall.
 
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Contact Matthew Westfall at [email protected]