Posted on 05/02/2012 7:13:19 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Newt Gingrich exits the race today, nearly two months after winning his last state in the nomination chase. According to CNN, Gingrich won't formally endorse Mitt Romney on his way out as some had expected, but will wait for a couple of weeks instead. He will offer "support" for the Republican nominee:
Newt Gingrich will briefly mention presumptive nominee Mitt Romney and signal support for his candidacy when the former House speaker suspends his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination on Wednesday, Gingrich's spokesman R.C. Hammond said. …
Gingrich, in his remarks Wednesday, will discuss Romney in the context of "how we need to help defeat Barack Obama and the need to help (House Speaker John) Boehner" maintain Republican control of the House of Representatives, Hammond said.
Hammond says that Gingrich’s endorsement will come as “no surprise,” but it will come later in the month. The two camps are negotiating a joint appearance, most likely hinging on Romney’s efforts to help retire Gingrich’s campaign debt. Gingrich was $4.5 million in the hole at the end of March, and is almost certainly worse off now. He will need a lot of help from Romney and his backers to get out of the deep well of red ink in which his campaign has sunk.
Rick Santorum, on the other hand, says he doesn’t need help in retiring a much smaller debt, under $1 million according to campaign sources. He meets with Romney on Friday, and the Associated Press reports that Santorum wants some assurances on policy before issuing his formal endorsement:
Romney has changed his position on bedrock issues such as abortion and gay rights. He supported the 2008 Wall Street bailout that angered conservatives and paved the way for the rise of the tea party. And he signed a health care overhaul as governor that provided the groundwork for Democrats’ national law that requires all Americans to buy insurance or face a fine. Romney’s health care overhaul in Massachusetts required health care coverage.
That’s the primary issue Santorum plans to discuss Friday when he meets privately with Romney.
“We want to make sure he doesn’t replace it with any kind of mandate,” Santorum adviser Hogan Gidley said. He added, “Rick just wants to have a candid, open conversation about making sure the folks in the 11 states that voted for him, and the conservative movement, have a voice in the Romney campaign.”
Advisers caution that an endorsement — or a public appearance for that matter — is unlikely to immediately follow Santorum’s private meeting with Romney.
Santorum has, like Gingrich, already stated publicly that he will support the Republican nominee, but has come short of a formal endorsement. Both men need to hold onto that step as the only value they have to trade for concessions.
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign salutes Gingrich on the way out by playing his greatest hits — against Romney:
A bloody Republican primary campaign left lots of footage of insults lying around.
In a new online advertisement, President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign strings together some of Newt Gingrich’s criticism of Mitt Romney that Iowans heard earlier in the season when both Republicans were angling to be the GOP nominee.
Gingrich is expected to quit the race today and endorse Romney, but the Obama web video questions what exactly Gingrich likes about Romney.
The ad, set to dramatic piano music, shows footage of Gingrich making comments such as “Why should we expect him to level with us about anything if he’s president?” In a clip from a debate, Gingrich says Romney’s investment firm, Bain Capital, sometimes looted companies and left behind thousands of unemployed workers.
There is no small amount of irony in Team Obama’s inclusion in this ad of Gingrich’s whining over negative campaigning. They just got done claiming that Romney — who gets painted as a ruthless executive in this ad — would somehow be ruth-filled as a Commander in Chief when it came time to kill an Osama bin Laden. Now they want to echo Gingrich’s “We can’t elect a big meany” argument? Er … good luck with that.
I wasnt talking about the divorces.
I live her in Ga, I know NO ONE that likes him... to me its all about his HUGE EGO... its all about ME ME ME ME... just like zero...
not that there were many good choices to start with... Newt would have got creamed... not that Rombot wont..but oh well...
time to break out the scotch..
The Mittwit Hot Air commenters say Romney doesn’t need Newt, Rick or their supporters. But guess who they will blame first when Obama beats Romney in November?
Mittwits make Ronulans look sane and gracious in comparison, and that really takes some doing.
“I only recently found out Newt went on a Mediterranean cruise when he should have been hitting the ground kissing babies. I guess I wanted Newt to be president more than he did.”
Next thing you know, we’ll see him on TV selling government backed reverse mortgages.
You must not get out much, because in Georgia, Gingrich carried every demographic except those making more than $200,000 a year and those with post-graduate degrees.
“I am truley shocked anyone gave money to that turd.. they deserve to lose it...”
Newt did what most of us (I say ‘most’ in case Rick Perry has a freeper account) couldn’t do and that was to stand up to Romney in a national campaign.
All’s this means is that Gingrich is publicly negotiating a debt pay off from the GOP and Romney. They countered an offer that would not pay off all of the Gingrich campaign debt;just some.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-05-01/gingrich-supports-romney/54664162/1
It is politics.Gingrich has a huge ego.It is all about money for all of them including Palin et al.When are people going to wake up and realize they need to gut the house and the senate if we want real change?Gingrich is as much of a reformed RINO as Romney.
ABO
The basic, cold, hard reality is this: If Bork Obunga manages to get re-elected, it’s basically over, game, set, and match. There will not be any pieces lying around four years later for anybody to try to pick up or put back together.
Well now it is down to Mitt and Paul. I know who I will be voting for when Texas finally gets to vote.
At this point, I am for a Palin/Gingerich team! That would be the best result in a brokered convention.
Frankly, I don't know what ELSE would explain Palin’s reticence to this point, and I am absolutely CERTAIN that she will not/must not ever again place herself in the VP running.
Well maybe true, I moved here from Wyo in 92. there are about 60 people here in the shop... i can count 3 who voted for him... probably 70-30 conservatives to libs...
he COULD have been a great guy, but he is by far his own worst enemy..
It’s now Romney or a brokered convention via Ron Paul. Take your pick.
Gingrich has a big fat campaign debt.....and needs Romney's financial help
Santorum does not!
......less than one million and his faithful supporters....(including yours truly) is gladly helping to bring that debt down.
So many of you were so wrong about Santorum and you won't even admit it, even now.
We lost a good man with great principles, character and integrity..
...and STILL a great majority of folks here continue to tear him down.....and make wrong assumptions.
Gingrich is the one folding...
..Santorum is standing his ground
I was only using the divorce as an example.
I think the man has a strong ego. That is a good thing.
Reading between the lines here, it seems Newt is going to hold off on endorsing Mitt until Mitt gets all of his funders to pay off Newt’s campaign debts.
I don’t see as much character in this move as you do, unfortunately.
Newt has done a great job for Romney, and he should be paid for it. The quicker Mitten’s gives him his thirty pieces of silver, the quicker we can move on, to wherever we intend to move.
I supported Santorum, and voted for him here in Idaho.
I expect that he will endorse Romney and campaign for him once Romney actually gets the delegates necessary to win the nomination. And if Santorum needs the help, I expect Romney will give it to him.
I meant no slam in that...it is the way these things work most of the time once the dust settles.
Newt, Santorum, Sara Palin, Cain, Bachman, Perry...all of the conversrvative leaders, will end up supporting and campaigning for Romney. Not because they agree with everything he represents, but because of two things.
1) We simply must defeat Obama.
2) They will want to try and influence Romney for the good through the campaign and should he be elected.
I join them in that hope and desire...though I did not support Romney and will not until after he gets the 1,144 delegates necessary to win the nomination.
I was Sarah, Cain, Santorum, and then Newt in that order. I could easily have gone to Bachman or Perry at some point had either stayed in.
America at the crossroads of History
http://www.jeffhead.com/crossroads.htm
I confess I’m only looking at the surface. The whole thing is like watching a movie, to me. I’m interested in the outcome of this election, but I know that it really won’t matter much. We’re screwed no matter who wins. The winner will just determine the position used.
I can hear it now,
Newt: 2.5 million, Mitt
Romney camp: Isn’t that a little steep, you know you wasted..
Newt: I can’t afford to appear at that rate, surely you understand
Romney camp: well, okay, we will pay 2.7 million, and for good cheer, we will also throw in the fees for Calista’s book nook bun bun. Hows that?
Newt: see you soon, deal
LOL
Gingrich is known for his expertise in American history. If he really wanted to be president, he should have followed the game plan of candidates who were successful in the past, such as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
Had he done so, he would have started early, even going back to the previous election cycle, stumping for Republicans around the country and staying on the rubber chicken circuit. He would have started organizing his campaign, recruiting a competent staff and raising money at least two years in advance of the election. And he would have refrained from picking up "baggage" and been on guard against committing gaffes.
Think what you will....
..but I wholeheartedly believe Santorum is a cut above....
...and will NOT support Romney.
I don't believe anything Romney says can convince Santorum that Romney will hold the course.
Eleven states worth of people voted to elect Santorum...
....many hundreds of thousands more voted for him...
..and I believe he has integrity to not let them down.
He knows they don't want Romney....
..I think he and his supporters would rather see it fought out at the convention.....at least to give us a chance.
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