A bitter fight shaping up in 'mean' South Carolina [View all]
Mitt Romney is expected to face a fierce battle in what looks to be his weakest early voting state. But, as in Iowa, conservative voters have yet to unite behind an alternative to him.
By Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times
January 4, 2012, 4:48 p.m.
Reporting from Greenville, S.C.— ...
... Rick Santorum ... faces not a single opponent for conservative support but three — Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Ron Paul — the same dynamic that splintered that bloc in Iowa ...
"This is a mean state," said Katon Dawson, a senior Perry advisor in South Carolina. "It's going to get personal" ...
Days before the Iowa vote, the former House speaker became the target of South Carolina attack ads run by Paul and supporters of Romney and Perry. A Paul ad running Wednesday on a Greenville radio station's website branded Gingrich a "counterfeit conservative" ...
A wild card in South Carolina will be Perry, the Texas governor. He announced his candidacy in South Carolina. Advisors presumed his military service, Southern heritage and evangelical ties would be key attractions. But here, as elsewhere, his popularity collapsed as poor debate performances raised doubts for many voters about his qualifications. Many doubt that he can revive his candidacy here ...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-south-carolina-20120105,0,7274630.story
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