Romney to release tax records after Gingrich shock win

By Pat Reber Jan 22, 2012, 17:36 GMT

Washington - Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney admitted Sunday that he had made mistakes, after rival Newt Gingrich unexpectedly clinched the South Carolina primary vote for the Republican nomination - signalling a long battle ahead within the party.

The former speaker of the US House of Representatives, who is 68, claimed 40 per cent of the party vote in the conservative southern state on Saturday, snatching what had been seen as an inevitable win for Romney just days before the election.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, claimed 28 per cent of the vote, followed by former US senator Rick Santorum with 17 per cent and Texas Congressman Ron Paul with 13 per cent. The Republican nominee will face off with Democratic President Barack Obama in November.

Gingrich's last-minute surge was attributed to his aggressive performance in two debates, when he shouted down a moderator for raising questions about his marital fidelity, and to his appeal in the conservative, religious state. He is also a native southerner, having represented neighbouring Georgia in Congress in the 1990s.

The multimillionaire Romney lost ground in the debates, faltering over the question of when and in what detail he would release his income tax returns. But he is favoured by the Republican establishment over Gingrich, who is seen as a maverick with the heavy baggage of infidelity in his first two marriages.

On Sunday, Romney told broadcaster Fox News that he would release his 2010 and 2011 tax returns on Tuesday, publishing them online.

In his victory speech late Saturday, Gingrich paid tribute to the diversity of his rivals as evidence of the 'genius of America', an overture to unity in the badly-split centre-right party.

But he saved his fire for Obama, whom he charged was creating a 'brand new secular European style bureaucratic socialist system.'

'Obama is so weak as a president that he makes Jimmy Carter look strong,' Gingrich said, referring to the former US president.

Gingrich's South Carolina win follows Romney's double-digit margin of victory in New Hampshire in the north-east and Santorum's narrow win over Romney in the mid-western state of Iowa. Gingrich placed fourth in both elections.

'Three states, three winners, what a great country,' Santorum said.

Romney, 64, put the best face on the loss when the results emerged, pledging to cheering supporters to take the fight to the next primary in Florida on January 31, where his more moderate stance could find a larger echo.

'This race is getting to be even more interesting,' Romney said. He charged that Obama has created a record of 'deficits, decline and debt' and pledged to repeal Obama's health insurance reform, which ironically was modelled on Romney's own success with health reform in the state of Massachusetts.

The prospect of a long drawn-out battle within the Republican Party, stretching out over another 47 states until late June, could bode well for the Republican cause in November. It will be the 'best thing for the Republican party' because it will 'sharpen the candidates,' said Santorum, who vowed to stay in the race.

A long race will also keep the country focused on the lively and sometime vicious debates among the remaining four candidates, and could overshadow Obama's own campaign for re-election.

A week-long roller-coaster of political drama preceded Saturday's vote.

Gingrich's ex-wife, Marianne, told ABC News that he was morally unfit to be president, detailing his request for an 'open marriage' so he could continue an affair with the woman who is now his third wife.

Gingrich also divorced his first wife, Jackie, while she was receiving cancer treatment, in order to marry Marianne, with whom he was having an affair.

Romney also received a blow during the week, when certified results from the Iowa caucuses in January showed he had lost by a handful of votes instead of the narrow victory reported initially.