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Fiery debate caps GOP’s wild day

gop debate | Live on CNN

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January 20, 2012|By Michael Levenson and Matt Viser

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich tangled over income taxes, as Romney wouldnt… (david goldman/associated…)

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — A truculent Newt Gingrich, surging in South Carolina but facing new questions about his marital infidelity, angrily upbraided the media last night for asking about his former wife’s assertion that he wanted an ‘‘open’’ marriage, drawing cheers and a standing ovation from a boisterous, sympathetic Republican audience.

In the final debate before the South Carolina primary tomorrow, Gingrich, who is closing on Mitt Romney in the state, also found himself the target of frequent attacks from Rick Santorum, who is battling with the former speaker to become the consensus alternative to the former Massachusetts governor.

The raucous, combative debate underscored the volatile dynamic in the Republican presidential contest, on a day of whipsaw revelations that saw Rick Perry drop out and endorse Gingrich and one of Gingrich’s former wives revive questions about his tumultuous marital history.

Santorum, who was often the aggressor in the debate, described Gingrich as grandiose and erratic and said that listening to Gingrich speak sometimes makes him worry ‘‘that something’s going to pop.’’ Santorum also attacked Romney over his Massachusetts health care plan and questioned the sincerity of his opposition to abortion rights.

Romney, seeking to regain his footing in South Carolina, was sharply questioned about his decision not to release his tax returns until April. For the first time he pledged to release several years of returns but drew scattered jeers when he declined to specify how many years he would unveil.

But it was Gingrich who riveted attention early on by forcefully sparring with the moderator, effectively turning questions about his past into a denunciation of the ‘‘elite media.’’ It is a technique the former speaker has put to effective use before to rally Republican voters to his side when he has come under scrutiny.

Jabbing his finger at the CNN host, John King, Gingrich scolded the network for opening the debate with a question about his second ex-wife, Marianne Gingrich. She said in an ABC News interview aired yesterday that Gingrich wanted an ‘‘open marriage’’ in 1999 so that he could pursue a relationship with Callista Bisek, a younger congressional staffer who is now his wife.

‘‘The destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office, and I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that,’’ Gingrich declared, basking in applause as audience members leapt to their feet.