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Newt Gingrich was surging two days before South Carolina's Republican primary. Yet, in typical Gingrich roller-coaster fashion, a potential scandal threatened to derail his campaign as it was peaking.

A series of polls released Thursday showed Gingrich closing fast on front-runner Mitt Romney, and several showed the former House speaker ahead. Texas Gov. Rick Perry also dropped out of the race and endorsed Gingrich.

Gingrich's commanding performance in Monday night's debate galvanized his campaign. He is drawing the loudest, most energetic crowds. A final preprimary debate Thursday night appeared to give him an opening for a stunning victory Saturday, possibly upsetting the dynamic of the GOP presidential campaign.

Except.

An unexpected thundercloud burst over the Gingrich campaign Thursday morning, dampening the good news: The former House speaker's second wife, Marianne, told The Washington Post and ABC News — in an interview shown on the network's "Nightline" program Thursday night — that he had asked her for an "open marriage" or a divorce in 1999, when he was having an affair with a young House aide (his current wife, Callista Bisek) and was giving speeches on family and religious values.

Gingrich, his ex-wife told ABC, asked whether she would "share" him with Bisek. "And I just stared at him and he said, 'Callista doesn't care what I do.' He wanted an open marriage, and I refused."

Marianne Gingrich said her ex-husband lacks the moral character to be president and that his positions on family values and marriage don't reflect his behavior, according to the ABC interview. She also noted the affair took place as he was leading House impeachment proceedings against then-President Clinton over sworn testimony given about Clinton's affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Marianne Gingrich also described her "shock" at learning her ex-husband conducted his affair "in my bedroom in our apartment in Washington," according to the ABC interview. "He always called me at night," she said, "and always ended with 'I love you.' Well, (Callista) was listening."

She said she was speaking out because she wanted her story told from her point of view, rather than be depicted as the victim or be the target of a whisper campaign by Gingrich's supporters. Asked about the timing of the revelations, she said she had had so many requests for interviews that "it was unavoidable."

At a South Carolina campaign event, Gingrich called his ex-wife's interviews "tawdry and inappropriate," and he refused to answer further questions. "I'm not going to say anything about Marianne," he said, as Callista Gingrich stood nearby.

"I've been very open about mistakes I have made," he said. "I've been very open about needing to go to God for forgiveness and to seek reconciliation."

Later, on a South Carolina radio talk show, he called his ex-wife's statements "just plain untrue." He said his two daughters by his first wife and four or five close friends "are all willing to be witness to protest it."

Finally, in an extraordinary opening to Thursday night's high-stakes debate on CNN, Gingrich lashed out angrily at the media for reporting on the interviews.

"Trash," he responded, when asked to respond to the reports. "I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that," he added, his face flush with anger.

It's unclear what impact the revelations may have on the South Carolina primary, but 60 percent of GOP voters in the state's 2008 primary identified themselves as evangelical Christians, and their social-conservative values may find this hard to forgive in a would-be president.

Still, polls showed Gingrich surging. An NBC-Marist poll showed a 15-point Romney lead over Gingrich on Monday shrinking to 5 points by Tuesday night. A Rasmussen Reports poll Thursday had Gingrich ahead by 2 points, an InsiderAdvantage survey put him up by 3, and a Public Policy Polling survey showed him ahead by 6.

Baggage

Gingrich's career has been filled with dramatic ups and downs. Many voters see him as a disorganized, polarizing figure who made millions as a Washington insider, had to pay a $300,000 penalty for ethical lapses as House speaker and has been scorned by former colleagues. Many South Carolina voters already were troubled by his personal life.

"I like Newt, but I'm really struggling with my vote," Florence businessman Craig LaCross said. "I'm scared he has too much baggage."

Gingrich fires up crowds with his empathy for people's long-simmering fury with the federal government. Many supporters are the same folks whose rage at the federal government fueled the tea-party movement, which helped elect dozens of Republicans to Congress in 2010. Many supporters are out of work or worry deeply about financial security, in a state where unemployment exceeds the national average.

They are tired of conventional politicians. They want guts, gall and tenacity — all Gingrich signatures.

Gingrich has fallen from the heights before. Republicans pushed him out of the speakership after four years of controversy. He had a big lead in early December in South Carolina and other states but tumbled as opponents, notably Romney, blanketed television in early-voting Iowa and New Hampshire with ads that recalled his foibles, and as establishment conservatives from George Will to the National Review pronounced him unfit for the presidency.

Romney launched a fresh assault on Gingrich this week, with new Web ads and denunciations. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., ripped Gingrich on Thursday for "self-serving narcissism."

Voters are listening.

Preston Dawkins, a Florence lawyer, is leaning toward Romney because "it's the electability issue, and I appreciate someone with no skeletons in his closet."

But Gingrich makes the decision tough. He speaks from the gut and has a feel for local concerns.

At a Florence art gallery, he spoke about the need to deepen local ports and build an interstate highway in eastern South Carolina. In Warrenville, he explained responsibility by recalling a conversation with Ronald Reagan's son Michael. At age 10, Michael wanted a 10-speed bicycle. His mother, actress Jane Wyman, told him he could have it if he could pay for it.

Michael's reply: How can I do that? Wyman loaned him the money and made him sign a promise to pay it back. He did, by selling newspapers in front of a church.

"He got his bike," Gingrich said. "He learned responsibility."

The crowd loved it.

"I'm very impressed," said North Augusta retiree Emily Lamb, torn between Romney and Gingrich. "It was a tough choice, but I think Romney's a little bit to the left."

But Linda Pennington, of Aiken, and two friends walked out of a Gingrich rally undecided. It may have been a rousing show, but one rally doesn't make the man.

"I'm still afraid he's going to do something stupid," she said.

Compiled from McClatchy Newspapers, The Washington Post and

Bloomberg News