You can’t really blame Ann Coulter and others on the right for their reactions to Newt’s victory in South Carolina. But the right deserves this. They’ve been built on hatred and contempt for the left and for Barack Obama, so this is what they get.

It’s been a mixed bag for Newt Gingrich today. Rick Perry dropped out of the race and endorsed him, but now his second wife, Marianne Gingrich, has come forward to give details about their marriage.

You can watch the video above, and the full interview will air tonight on Nightline.

Basically, Newt Gingrich was having an affair during his second marriage with Callista, who later became his third wife. According to Marianne, Newt wanted an “open marriage” so that he could continue the affair.

I’m not a big fan of the private sexual life of a politician being an issue in campaigns. There are plenty of men who have had affairs who managed to be good presidents. The hysteria over Bill Clinton’s personal shortcomings was idiotic, as it led to impeachment hearings.

But we know that these things matters to some voters, particularly conservative and religious voters. Newt’s marital problems are well-known, but this salacious detail regarding his desire for an open marriage will certainly garner attention. Had Bill Clinton run again, his personal life and the Monica Lewinsky affair certainly would have been issues as well.

Also, there are few people as contemptuous as Newt Gingrich. He’s always willing to pass judgement on others, often in the harshest terms, so if anyone deserves this scrutiny it’s him. He doesn’t have a warm personality or a record of good will to fall back on.

It’s going to be fascinating to see how this plays out. Gingrich has a real shot at derailing Mitt Romney, but he needs to get past this story. If he can’t, then perhaps Rick Santorum can emerge as the last obstacle to a Mitt Romney nomination.

Rick Perry acknowledged that Newt isn’t perfect and he stressed the importance of forgiveness and redemption. Let’s see how the evangelical voters of South Carolina feel about it.

Rick Perry’s embarrassing foray into national politics will end today according to multiple press reports. In one of the worst fields of presidential candidates in modern political history, Rick Perry stood out as one of the chief yahoos in the confederacy of dunces.

This shouldn’t have been a surprise, as Perry’s main claim to fame leading up to 2012 was his suggestion that the State of Texas might secede from the union.

His debate “performances” have become legendary. He made George W. Bush sound like Lawrence Olivier. He consistently made outrageous statements, like this past week when he suggested that the leaders of NATO ally Turkey were “Islamic terrorists.”

Perry hoped that right wing hysteria might sweep him to the nomination, but Republican voters recoiled at his utter incompetence. You can’t rally voters if you can’t manage a coherent sentence. This week, Erick Erickson of RedState.com urged Perry to drop out. Understandably, conservatives do not want Mitt Romney as their nominee. Newt Gingrich is also a disaster for the GOP, but at least he has some credibility among conservatives and can handle himself in a debate.

Rick Perry finally realized that he had no chance in South Carolina and conservatives needed to stop splitting the anti-Romney vote. Perhaps he’s not quite as dumb as he sounds.

The “oops” candidate now leaves the national stage as one of the biggest laughing stocks in American politics.

The Mitt Romney flip-flop ads just write themselves as Romney is the most brazen flip-flopper in modern political history. He’s a total opportunist.

While John McCain has now endorsed Romney, it’s fun to see one of the ads he ran against him back in 2008.

How crazy is this guy?

Newt Gingrich loves to accuse his political opponents of being “radical,” and yet he tosses around radical statements on a regular basis. His latest comments on judges even have conservatives howling.

Now he’s talking about using the capital police or U.S. Marshals to arrest judges that he deems to be out of line. Here’s a statement to FOX News from Michael Mukasey, a former U.S. Attorney General under George W. Bush, who said Gingrich’s comment were “dangerous, ridiculous, totally irresponsible, outrageous, off-the-wall and would reduce the entire judicial system to a spectacle.”

The man is a complete buffoon, and it’s easy to see why the conservative establishment is horrified at the thought of this clown becoming the nominee.

Rick Santorum is notorious for his comments about gay marriage and homosexuals. But his strict Catholic upbringing leads him to comment about sex quite often, and he seems intent on imposing his views on everyone else.

We’ll repeal Obamacare and get rid any idea that you have to have abortion coverage or contraceptive coverage. One of the things that I will talk about that no president has talked about before is I think the dangers of contraception in this country, the sexual liberty idea and many in the Christian faith have said, you know contraception is OK. It’s not OK because it’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.

Really? Now he has a problem with contraception?

With the collapse of Rick Perry and the incomprehensible abortion comments from Herman Cain, I thought there might be room for a conservative like Santorum to emerge as one of the anti-Romney candidates. But Rick Santorum’s obsession with sexual issues keeps holding him back. He also seems clueless that these views might hinder his campaign.

He’s certainly entitled to his opinion, and many believe that the sexual revolution has been a bad thing for our culture (I don’t), but he seems intent on turning the clock back. As a result, the only thing he’s really running for is a commentator position on Fox News.

Hopefully I’m wrong, as Santorum would be one of the easiest Republicans for President Obama to defeat in 2012 if he somehow snagged the nomination.

Say crazy stuff, and people will start to notice. Say that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme and should be transferred to the states, and people listen up some more.

Rick Perry’s surge in the GOP race is being fueled by the Tea Party, but everyone else is paying attention as well, and his negatives are starting to go up in polls.

For the GOP, right now he looks like their Howard Dean or their George McGovern.

Rick Perry seems to have a knack for saying stupid things. Several years ago he implied that Texas might consider seceding from the United States. Now he’s saying that Ben Bernanke’s decisions on monetary policy would be “almost treasonous” if done in an election year. Of course this genius neglects to mention that Bernanke was appointed by George W. Bush and that he greatly expanded the money supply back in 2008 to avoid an economic collapse. You also have to love the irony of Mr. Secession claiming that someone else is almost treasonous.

We’re in a poisonous climate where both sides are yelling at each other, and I suspect Perry’s entrance in the 2012 presidential race will just ratchet things up. He comes across as a fanatic on most issues, and already Karl Rove is freaking out and saying that Perry needs to tone things down.

In the end, he’s just joining the confederacy of dunces leading the GOP presidential field.

Governor Christie talks about Superior Court Judge Sohail Mohammed.

If you’re someone who is worried about Sharia law or you’re afraid of all Muslims, please watch this video.

You know a presidential campaign has a problem when they start declaring the candidate’s spouse to be off limits. Michele Bachmann’s campaign seems to be reeling over the attention her husband Marcus Bachmann is getting for his “pray the gay away” therapy, and Mrs. Bachmann is now saying that the topic of her spouse and their business is off limits.

Just as a footnote, in 2008 Bachmann was more than happy to take shots at Michelle Obama.