Shoot, I'm pleased as punch this evening.
If these primaries had been held three weeks ago, Newt would have finished a distant third in both, losing to both Santorum and Romney by at least ten points. As it stands, he finished a close second in both, in large part because Santorum underperformed among groups that are supposedly his core source of support. Even though Santorum won, the results tonight suggest that Santorum's slide is still continuing, and that Newt's momentum is still building, both of these observable trends over the past three weeks that remain true, regardless of headlines.
Gingrich was expected to win these states. They are in his backyard. A week ago his campaign manager said that if he loses any one of them, he’d quit. The Gingrich camp and his campers on FR were booze dizzy with the polls showing Gingrich in the lead 24 hours ago. So close seconds don’t count here.
Newt is on FOX now. He just made two good points for not dropping out. He pointed out:
1. Rick Santorum went head-to-head with Romney in Ohio and lost and Michigan and lost.
2. If Romney has only one opponent to pour his money and negative ads into rather than two candidates, he will clean his opponent’s clock.
Newt could be right.