HuffPost : The Great Surge of Newt Gingrich in South Carolina - Newt may tie with Mitt Romney - Rick Perry and Sarah Palin support Newt Gingrich - Newt may be the only Republican candidate with enough strength to stop Mitt Romney

.
Huffington Post
South Carolina Polls Show Newt Gingrich Surging To Tie Mitt Romney
By Mark Blumenthal
January 19, 2012


South Carolina Polls Show Newt Gingrich Surging To Tie Mitt Romney


Some excerpts :

WASHINGTON -- Six new polls released on Thursday reveal a stunning surge of support for Newt Gingrich in South Carolina's Republican primary, following pundit accolades of his Monday night debate performance and a near-endorsement on Tuesday from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

The current polling snapshot now shows Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney running essentially even among likely Republican primary voters, although polls differed on which candidate might be ahead. With events continuing to swirl, the ultimate outcome of Saturday's primary is now impossible to predict.

Some of the new data releases might be questionable if examined alone, but the consistency of the trend across all polls is undeniable. Since Monday, former House Speaker Gingrich has surged and eliminated what had been a double-digit Romney lead almost overnight.

..........................

Now, however, the new polls show the trend lines have converged. They show a virtual tie, 31.1 percent for Gingrich and 31.0 percent for Romney, with Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) running a distant third at 15.3 percent.

The trends would appear to favor Gingrich, given that support for conservative alternatives to Romney -- former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (11.3 percent) and Texas Gov. Rick Perry (3.5 percent) -- was already fading.

...............