[Cincinatus' Wife]

Anyone who tells you that they know how this is going to end if Newt doesn't get out of the race, doesn't know what they don't know.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Oops! Anyone who tells you that they know how this is going to end if Newt gets out of the race, doesn't know what they don't know.

[svcw]

Agree with the headline.
Gingrich must stay in.

[cripplecreek]

Ive got mixed feelings about it.

If Newt does decide to get out of the race he should make a deal with Santorum. He tosses the delegates he can to Santorum in return for Santorum promising him the VP slot. However the same can be done in a contested convention.

Personally I can’t think of a better president / vice president team. Newt is strong enough that as VP he would have lots of input in a Santorum administration and he has the experience to apply the whip to congress.

[LuvFreeRepublic]

For sure it is best for Newt to say in. Romney is between a rock and a hard spot. Newt has been ATTACKED and yet he is still a viable candidate based on his policy positions and his ability to articulate them. He also remains a viable candidate because he is able to attack Obama and his policies like no other candidate can. This is why Newt has supporters that will NOT leave him. Newt is the bigger threat to Romney, and Obama.

In the event of Santorum dropping out, I believe Newt would gain in strength when Mitt and Newt are compared side by side. Mitt needs Newt out first and he is hoping that the carpet bombing and the push by the establishment/others for Newt to get out will work.

If Newt does drop out,Romney will carpet bomb Santorum and with the amount of material that is out there, Santorum will crash hard and fast. Santorum does not have the policies or communication strengths Newt has. In addition, the only reason Santorum appears to be viable is because the Dems and Ind are voting for him in an effort to screw up our primary, and because the bigger focus of all the negative stuff has been on Newt.

Santorum doesn't have a chance of beating Obama and if we hope to have someone besides Romney, a brokered convention is a must.

[umgud]

It would seem to me that either one would have a better shot without the other. Am I missing something here? BTW, I’m not making a case against either of them.

[Mr. K]

Let’s look at this from ONLY the debate perpective

Who would you rather see debate Obama?

Santorum? (too whiney)

Romney? (too inept- “Okay c’mon I betcha $10,000 the economy is worse now. C’mon you wanna bet?”)

Gingrich? (would be akin to a blood sport)

[yoe]

How many states do no have Santorum on their ballots? If Newt leaves the race, Mitt’s PAC will unleash hundreds of attack ads on Rick just like they/mitt did for Newt....they will destroy Rick in less than a week leaving only Mitt standing. This is not the way to elect the right person...this is personnel. Stay in Newt; fight the good fight; who says you are not the best for the country....only the left and pundits who unfortunately stand for the elites i.e., haven’t a clue as to the American people’s desires for honest and transparent government and less of that government in their daily lives. GO NEWT!!!

[Ozymandias Ghost]

Newt staying in also acts as an “insurance policy” in case something unforseen causes Rick's campaign to “tank.”

(Someone posted yesterday an article intimating there would be something coming out in the next few days that could tie Rick to the Paterno/Sandusky scandal in some way.)

Caveat: The allegation was vague and referred to Dem sources that had been credible before. No proof was offered; therefore, since the article was entirely speculative, it may well be more “dirty tricks” from the Dems, Romney campaign or others.

[Cicero]

This argument really doesn’t make much sense. Two conservatives are splitting the vote, and Mitt is profiting by that.

And since Newt hasn’t been doing very well, Mitt has concentrated his attacks on Santorum. You can see it on Drudge’s website, where there are constant photos and headlines extolling Mitt and damning Rick. They were bashing Newt earlier, but at the moment they’re pretty much ignoring him.

I’m not saying that Newt has to drop out. That’s his choice. But it is damaging the conservative position at the moment.

The essential thing is to keep Romney from getting a winning number of delegates on the first vote at the convention. But that is harder to do with the two conservatives splitting the vote.

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

Inside information indicates that Paul has cut a deal with Romney for his Delegates. At the moment, this is a rumor, but if that were to happen. Romney would take it.

Add a little known fact, called SUPER Delegates, who unanimously favor Romney, you have another 20% advantage of the Delegate count in Romney's favor.

Considering the above, at this point, Romney would have to lose everything from here on out by at least 40 points for Santorum to catch him. So Newt is right, if he drops out, he will drive Romney to a win by June.

[JediJones]

Mitt cannot be defeated at the current trajectory and 2 extra points for Rick isn’t going to do it. That’s why I’ve been saying Newt has to withdraw, endorse Rick, and Rick has to announce that Newt will be his V.P. all at the same time. He has to ensure he gets at least 75% of Newt’s support. Only then can they possibly deny Romney the 1,144 delegates he will otherwise accumulate by June.

Any article that doesn’t get into an explanation of delegates and the winner-take-all rules in the various states isn’t worth spit. This race is all about delegate math now, and the math is in Romney’s favor in the upcoming races.

[no dems]

But when asked how they would vote without Gingrich in the race, the former speaker’s supporters don’t all shift to Santorum. Out of Gingrich’s 13 percent, Santorum gets 7 percent, but Romney gets 5 percent. Paul gets a point too.

Forgive me for repeating what I said on another thread, but, Newt reminded us the day after the Election that Santorum had RINO-Rom all to himself in Michigan and Ohio and LOST BOTH STATES TO ROMNEY. Just let this play out folks.