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Newt Gingrich got 40 percent of the vote in Saturday's South Carolina primary, well ahead of both Mitt Romney (27 percent) and Rick Santorum (17 percent) — "upending the Republican race for the presidency," as the New York Times put it. Gingrich won in just about every breakout in the NYT exit poll, and did best (51 percent) among those who said the most important quality they sought in a candidate was ability to defeat President Obama in November.
Campaign 2012
Gingrich wins pretty big in South Carolina
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