Posted on 03/13/2012 10:17:32 PM PDT by Steelfish
March 13, 2012 Gingrich Is in No Hurry to Bow Out Even After Falling Short of Double Wins in Deep South, Former Speaker Still Sees a Way to Push Fight to the Convention
By JANET HOOK and DANNY YADRON
BILOXI, Miss.—Even as pressure mounts on Newt Gingrich to drop out of the Republican presidential contest, the former House speaker is preparing to stick it out—with a new short-term goal of keeping Mitt Romney from securing the nomination.
Mr. Gingrich faced crucial primary tests Tuesday in Alabama and Mississippi, states where he campaigned hard to jump-start his flagging campaign. He lost both to former Sen. Rick Santorum, though he appeared on track to finish a respectable second in both. Even if he had realized his dream of winning both, though, some Republican officials doubt that would have generated enough momentum to win the nomination.
Still, Mr. Gingrich and his advisers say he isn't going anywhere. In a concession speech, Mr. Gingrich was gracious to Mr. Santorum, while calling the results an indictment of Mr. Romney, widely seen as the front-runner. "I believe that after the primaries are over it will be obvious the so-called front-runner in fact didn't get there, and from that point we will be in a whole different conversation," Mr. Gingrich said.
As those remarks suggest, Mr. Gingrich and his campaign have embraced a new goal, which is to block Mr. Romney. "He believes the long haul is to get enough delegates to stop Romney from getting the nomination before the convention," said campaign chairman Bob Walker, a former congressman. "If Romney is stopped, I don't think he gets the nomination at the convention."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
In hindsight that was probably the goal all along, which is a good thing.
Hold it right there.
I'm offended at your use of the term "commie atheist".
What we're talking about here is a bisexual crack-smoking commie atheist and you know it.
Next time get it right. :)
(Well, actually a muslim bisexual crack-smoking commie but let's not split hairs today...)
I like Newt because, unlike Santorum, he's going after Obama pretty hard. He points out his Alinsky ways, how the food stamps program has grown, etc. I have not yet seen Santorum really take it to obama.
If he wants to be Santorum's VP, then stepping aside now would be stupid. The only reason Santorum would put Newt on the ticket would be because he needed Newt's delegates. So if Newt wants that to happen, then Newt's best strategy is to stay in and get as many delegates as he can. Eventually, the only states left will be winner-take-all states. At that point, Gingrich will no longer be able to get any more delegates and he will have more bargaining power with either Santorum or Romney, depending on his intentions. Based on everything he and Romney have said, I don't see a Gingrich-Romney team up as even a remote possibility.
I would have loved for Newt to win AL and MS.
That said, neither Newt nor Santorum is going to the convention with the 1144 bound delegates needed for a first ballot win.
The key at this point is to stop Romney. Tonight went a long way toward accomplishing that.
Folks asking either Santorum or Newt to bow out are making assumptions about where each of their voters would go. I don’t think all of the potential Newt voters would choose Santorum over Romney, nor would Santorum voters all choose Newt. Since neither Newt nor Santorum will get to 1144 they might as well both stay in and keep those delegates away from Romney.
Ditto. Best post and analysis on this thread.
If Santorum is the nominee, I’ll support him.
However, I fear that he is another Geo. W. Bush in the making. Heaven help us.
You are WRONG, WRONG and then WRONG.
Newt and Rick stay in, deny Romney the delegates to clinch. Then, right before an OPEN CONVENTION, Newt makes a deal with Rick, NOT MITT. Rick and Newt will decide which one leads and where the other one will serve.
They are morons.
Cubans keep voting for Castro, Russians keep voting for Putin, and Venezuelans keep voting for Chavez.
It's the reason why the Founders didn't put a right to vote in the Constitution, and why enfranchising women, non tax payers, and imbeciles over the last 100 years means this Republic will fall very soon.
OK, I'm inclined to tentatively agree with your first and third sentences, but sentence two, in the words of Sesame Street, "doesn't belong with the others".
Cubans, Russians and Venezuelans don't keep voting for Castro, Putin and Chavez because they are morons. Indeed, one could argue that while it might be very noble to vote AGAINST those guys, it would also be somewhat moronic to do that with the figurative gun already pressing on your forehead.
Some have said the candidates beating up on each other is bad, and they need to focus on Obama. But only Gingrich has been the bold candidate taking on Obama in the public arena. Romney is too cowardly to say anything about Obama which is not nice. Romney's critique is milquetoast. Santorum has also not strongly attacked Obama.
Santorum has critiqued Romney's lack of "bold ideas", but Santorum has offered no bold ideas, other than a crony-capitalism corporate tax which benefits a few selected winners. The candidate of bold ideas is Gingrich. Cain also had bold ideas, but he is gone.
While Romney and Santorum drop a comment or two in a speech about gas prices, Ginrich offers a point by point plan with a measurable goal. While Santorum complains about the secularization of society, Ginrich offers a specific example to illustrate the issue (the GCB vs. Good Muslim B-tches). But nobody is listening to Ginrich any more. Gingrich is yesterday's candidate.
The desire for a Romney alternative who is a Washington outsider has been dropped since Cain left the race.
The other thing which has really hurt Gingrich, and helped Santorum is the ending of the debates.
I think this primary always was a popularity contest of the social conservative base. First it was Bachmann, then Perry (until the Gardisil issue), then Cain (until the bimbo eruption), then Gingrich (until the hit piece by his second wife). Now we are left with Santorum as the Anybody But Romney candidate. The social conservatives have written off Gingrich, while glossing over, ignoring, or absolving Santorum of his sins against the conservative base.
Exit polls show there are voters who believe Romney is the most electable, and some who believe that then vote for Santorum. For some, Santorum is a social conservative protest vote against the "establishment".
What explains Santorum's success is the fact Santorum is a good family man with an intact family, who today is strong on social issues, and for the last six years has not have to deal with that pesky issue of having to cast a vote in the Senate. So like Romney, Santorum can discard past sins against conservatism as errors which he has overcome. It works in Santorum's case, but not Romney's, because Santorum is trustworthy and Romney comes across as a used car salesman.
It comes down to this: Conservative voters do not trust Romney when it comes to both fiscal and social issues. Social conservatives do not trust Gingrich on social issues because of his personal baggage. Social conservatives believe Santorum on social issues, because he is loyal to his wife and family. Gingrich will not win back supporters who left him for Santorum in the same way Bachmann cannot comeback and win them. He had his chance, and the popularity wave is a huge factor in primaries. But this time, Santorum is the last Anybody But Romney candidate left. There is no one else to go to, so social conservatives have doubled down on Santorum.
Excellent post #66.
Newt is not splitting the conservative vote—he is ensuring there IS a conservative vote come the nomination.
Santorum has 150 HARD delegates now(not total); Newt has 133. Romney has more than twice of either.
Newt knows Romney, the Massachusetts moderate, is a disaster for the GOP in the general. By staying in, he is helping himself, and is actually helping Santorum to stay viable, because Romney has to expend resources on fighting two candidates, not one.
My belief is that Romeny would basically cream Santorum in attacks if it was just the two of them. Remember, Santorum endorsed Romney in 2008 very strongly.
At this point, the best outcome is for both Santorum and Newt to shadow each other all the way to Tampa, blocking Romney. It is blowing a hole in the m edia and GOP establishment positions that Romney is inevitable.
Also Newt staying in, is defining the issues in the campaign. Chu didn’t change positions due to Santorum or Romney—it is because Newt Gingrich has set the table, and has taken on Obama daily.
Newt is a leader—I do not see that in Santorum. Newt is helping to take and deflect fire that would solely be directed to Santorum.
The takeaway from MS and AL is twofold:
1. 70% of the primary voters did not vote for Romney.
2. Ron Paul needs to go away.
What is happening is what should happen in the primaries—candidates battling it out.
Newt is clearly the most conservative viable candidate in this race, to win against Obama.
I wish the ultra conservative Christians could see that we are not electing an altar boy, we need a fighter this go around, and that is Newt.
Balderdash. Polls show that half of Santorum's or Gingrich's support would go to Romney if either dropped out. I'm one that prefers Gingrich, but would probably switch to Romney, not Santorum. But just because I prefer Gingrich doesn't mean I'd agree with him if he endorses Santorum. My reaction would be what it always is when a politician I like endorses one I don't. Instead of improving my opinion of the one I didn't like, it just lowers my opinion of the one I did like.
I have a pretty low opinion of both Romney and Santorum. If Newt drops out, it would be a tough decision for me when my state's primary occurs. I'm leaning Romney, but if Santorum chose Gingrich as his VP, that could tip me back towards him, whereas an endorsement by Newt probably wouldn't change my thinking much at all.
I agree. If Newt drops out, some of his support will go to Romney. While Newt is getting some of the Anybody But Romney support, he has already lost much of his support among social conservatives to Santorum.
“Santorum is a good family man with an intact family”
... and with a not so “intact” wife, the mistress for 6 years of an abortionist doctor ...who accompanied his patients to her lovers’ clinic, explaining to them that it was not hard, that abortion was not “big deal”.
A couple of hypocrites.
If Gingrich’s private life is fair game, so is Santorum’s. Rick is always boasting about his, while attacking Newt. He would probably be delighted to see his wife in the arms of her lover. S...w him and his hypocrisy.
When Santorum was smiling at the abortion-man...Santorum supporting Arlen Specter, while Arlen is talking of his pro-abortion stand:
“At this point, the best outcome is for both Santorum and Newt to shadow each other all the way to Tampa, blocking Romney. It is blowing a hole in the media and GOP establishment positions that Romney is inevitable.”
Not to mention it’s will blow a hole in the attempt to remove O from office.
I like your tagline . . . as such, we need to remember who the enemy really is.
let the Michael Savage “stalking horse for Obama” conspiracy theories fly...
Before I disagree with this, let me say that I completely agree Newt is the best candidate. I also completely agree we need to vote against Obama, no matter who the Republicans put up against him.
But I vehemently disagree with the sentiments expressed on Free Republic or elsewhere by analysts or supporters of one candidate or the other that any of the top three Republican candidates "can't" beat Obama or is "unelectable".
The often forgotten truth of this election is that if the economy tanks or gas prices keep skyrocketing ALL of them could beat Obama. On the other hand if gas prices go way down and the economy improves drastically, NONE of them could beat Obama. This race will be a referendum on Obama. Their differences in electability are slight and pale by comparison to the impact that the economy will have on the race. Those differences are debatable (each of the candidates has a reasonable explanation why he thinks he is the most electable, I happen to agree with Newt's), but COULD matter if the economy stays lukewarm and the race stays close.
No gripe with you in particular--I'm just getting really, really tired of the absolutist statements that some of our candidates can't beat Obama. And I figured I'd rather point that out to someone who shares my candidate preference rather than picking on a Santorum or Romney supporter. ;-)
For some reason I can see Newt siding with Romeny before Santorum. The irony is he is talking about how there is only 2 conservatives in the race now, but I think his true colors will side with the establishment Republican choice which is Romeny. Newt can’t change his stripes he is who he is, despite what we want him to be or the phony conservative he wants us to believe he is.
Neither Karen Garver or Dr. Tom Allen were married when they were in a relationship (1982-1989). Garver married Santorum in 1990. Allen started dating his current wife in 1989 and married her in 1996.
Karen was not the doctor's mistress, she was his girlfriend.
Rick and Karen Santorum's marriage appears to have been intact since they were married in 1990.
Personally, I could care less. This election should be about the economy and issues, not about which candidate is more "pure".
You must believe then conservative policies will are losing propositions?"
Wow. That's not very good reasoning. I think it's clear in his post that he believes in conservative policies, but doesn't think that Santorum communicates or defends them well.
I happen to agree with him on that point. When Gingrich speaks he makes it sound like you'd be an idiot to disagree with a conservative. Sadly, though he's usually OK, there are times when Santorum speaks that he makes it seem like conservatives are idiots.
In other words he clearly doesn't believe conservative policies are a losing proposition, but rather believes Santorum is a losing proposition.
Inconsolable, she wouldn't let up until it dawned on me.
In Sunday School that morning, they'd sung "Onward Christian Soldiers!"
So around the house we marched and sang our hearts out, til she was her 'cheerful' self again.
So today, with our precious Newt in mind, I'm going to be praying that powerful hymn, over and over.
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
Forward into battle see His banners go!
Refrain:
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
Like a mighty army moves the church of God;
Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod.
We are not divided, all one body we,
One in hope and doctrine, one in charity.
Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane,
But the church of Jesus constant will remain.
Gates of hell can never ’gainst that church prevail;
We have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.
Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng,
Blend with ours your voices in the triumph song.
Glory, laud, and honor unto Christ the King,
This through countless ages men and angels sing.
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