Gingrich projected winner in South Carolina

Romney's momentum has stalled.  Rachel Maddow says we've never seen three different Republican candidates win Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.  Chris Matthews says that this is the same pattern we saw last year, with different GOP candidates surging to the lead, then falling back as another candidate surged.  Matthews says Romney needs to move to the right to recapture the momentum.  Which is trouble, since Romney's flip-flopper reputation is all due to his already having moved to the right in order to woo GOP voters.  Romney now regularly implies that President Obama is a socialist, something Romney had previously said he'd never do.  How many more flip-flops can Romney make in order to secure the GOP nomination?

Igor Volsky at ThinkProgress tweets: @igorvolsky: Only 20% of SC Evangelicals break for Santorum, most go with traditional values beacon Gingrich.

The religious right is pathetic, and a farce. They don't believe in God, values, the Bible or anything else they profess. How a born-again conservative Republican evangelical could vote for a guy who's been married three times, cheated on two different wives then married his mistress, twice, and reportedly asked wife number one for an open "free love" marriage with his then mistress, aka wife #2.

The Evangelical right doesn't believe in G-O-D. They believe in GOP. We've always known it. Tonight proves it.

Howie Kurtz raises a good point - perhaps the Evangelical dislike of Mormonism is greater than their distaste for a lot of adultery:

@HowardKurtz: CNN also says Newt leads Mitt 43-9 among those who say religion matters a great deal. Evangelical wariness of a Mormon candidate?

Brad Woodhouse over at the DNC chimes in about how significant a loss this is for Romney:

@woodhouseb: When's the last time someone collapsed this colossally? @MittRomney had a 25pt lead and right now is losing by 9 - a 34pt collapse.

Derek Thompson at the Atlantic notes the irony of ABC's headline:

@DKThomp: "Ability to Beat Obama Tops S.C. Voters’ Concerns, According to Exit Polls" http://t.co/WWxzqC3z Hahahaha.

Excellent point. SC GOP voters voted for one of the most bombastic and hated men in America as their presidential candidate, over Mormon milquetoast (who certainly has a better chance at beating Obama than Gingrich), because their top concern is who can beat President Obama.

Southern voters' ability to vote against their own self-interest truly knows no bounds.

From the Borowitz Report:

@BorowitzReport: Gingrich leading Romney by 16%, which is more than Romney pays in taxes. #SCPrimary

And this one by Borowitz as well, is brilliant:

@BorowitzReport: BREAKING: Stung By Defeat, Romney Considers Adultery: http://t.co/VzyIemkb #SCPrimary