Newt Gingrich: Walking dead out of Alabama, Mississippi

The Washington Times ^ | March 14, 2012 | Jim Picht

[Cincinatus' Wife]

NATCHITOCHES, La., March 14, 2012—It was a good night for Rick Santorum. It was not a good night for Mitt Romney. Newt Gingrich is a zombie.

President Obama might want to celebrate tonight’s election results in the morning with a nice bowl of grits for breakfast.

Gingrich’s southern strategy is dead, and so is his campaign. The only southerner in the race, he’s said all along that the South would help him to the nomination. ... He came in a close second in both, results that would be respectable if he had more wins to his credit. But he doesn’t. There’s no way Gingrich can spin the night’s results into victory.

Nor can Romney, but his campaign remains very much alive. The mathematics of the delegate race didn’t demand that he win – if he and Santorum traded results, the effect would be a gain of only seven delegates for Romney – but a victory in either state would have been a definite boost. He won some delegates, and if he wins Hawaii and American Samoa, as is widely expected, his delegate lead will grow, but the losses still hurt, and they illustrate a serious weakness.

Romney could have won in Mississippi, and even Alabama wasn’t out of reach. He had sufficient support on paper to win, and the spread between him and Santorum was actually quite narrow. Between him and Gingrich the gap was even narrower, and second-place would have been just fine. But his supporters weren’t sufficiently supportive to actually go out and vote. He showed, if anyone needed showing, that his support is a mile wide and an inch deep. His supporters preferred to stay home and watch CSI, and so Romney came in third.

[Buckeye Battle Cry]

If Newt drops out Romney can focus ALL of his time, effort and considerable MONEY in carpet-bombing Santorum into the stone-age. Santorum does not have the resources to survive a one-on-one fight with Romney. Newt staying in forces Romney to play a zone defense against both men and against social (Santorum) and economic (Gingrich) issues. If he bombs Newt, Rick surges. If he bombs Rick, Newt surges. If he bombs both, he comes in less than first.

Newt staying in the race forces Romney to fight until June and, even then, there’s a 47.8% chance he’ll not win the nomination outright (delegate math).

I’ll take the best odds we can get to stop Romney. Right now, an ongoing Newt campaign gives us the best odds.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I’m an angry grandma who wants liberty and opportunity for ALL Americans, fighting so our example never fades!

Thank you for the nice comments.

[TomGuy]

Who gave you a crystal ball?

I predicted [in writing] in Feb 2008 that, if McCain got the nomination, he would lost the general by about as much as Bob Dole. Note that the McCain candidacy was nearly dead in the water at that point.

History repeats. The key is to learn from the repetition.

[katiedidit1]

What many Santorum supporters fail to understand is the Newt faithful do not feel Santorum is as strong a fiscal conservative as Newt. We know what Newt accomplished as Speaker of the House and we can’t relax with the massive earmark spending supported by Santorum. Also, I like the Galveston Plan (soc sec) as supported by Gingrich and RS doesnt believe in making any changes.
America is broke...Newt has a proven record in turning the economy around and fighting the dems aka Clinton.
MY hope is by staying in this race...Newt rattles the establishment and obtains some bartering power at the convention.

[Buckeye McFrog]

I am not surprised that Romney lost both Alabama and Mississippi.

I am fairly stunned that they chose the Yankee Catholic over a Son of the South.

[katiedidit1]

Me too:) for love of my children and grandchildren and of an America I loved so much as a child when it was not a sin to be patriotic.
LOL I am from the black and white tv days when Ed Sullivan was the most risque show on tv, crime rates were so low we really could leave our windows open and doors unlocked and being a patriot was a good thing. What happened?

[jveritas]

Besides that you are wrong in your analysis regarding Santorum why are so many people calling the candidates with their first names? Mitt, Rick, Newt… Are you folks trying to be cool and hip?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

What happened?

The Left moved into our universities, our newsrooms and our churches.

Time for a re-set. Our allies are begging us not to go over the same cliff many of them have or are about to. There still is time.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Go to: Newt.org

All of Newt’s plans are explained in detail ... and he has many of them.

Educate yourself.

And while you’re there ... hit “contribute” and do something to help America.

Have a blessed day.

[joesbucks]

I am fairly stunned that they chose the Yankee Catholic over a Son of the South.

That's the whole story in a nutshell. They denied one of their own.

[joesbucks]

No, I want you to articulate Newt's position.

[txmissy]

Interesting....guess we’ll know on Saturday.

[Col Freeper]

Who gave you a crystal ball?

LOL, based on what I'm reading on FR during this Primary, I think there must have been a Blue-Plate special at Walmart on crystal balls.

It seems that everybody "just knows" what will happen if so-and-so doesn't do such-and-such.

Let the Primary battles rage, with all the candidates vying for the win. Let ALL the voters in ALL the states get their chance to make their choice, have the convention, and let's see what happens. That's the American way to do it.

Seems like I remember that some brave Texans refused to give up at the Alamo. They lost EVERYTHING they personally had to give, their lives. But though that battle was lost, the war was won, and the State of Texas came into existence.

Keep up the good fight, I'm with you to the end.

[Ratman83]

Less to type and no need for formality.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

......Let the Primary battles rage, with all the candidates vying for the win. Let ALL the voters in ALL the states get their chance to make their choice, have the convention, and let's see what happens. That's the American way to do it.

Seems like I remember that some brave Texans refused to give up at the Alamo. They lost EVERYTHING they personally had to give, their lives. But though that battle was lost, the war was won, and the State of Texas came into existence.

Keep up the good fight, I'm with you to the end.

They they understood what they did mattered. They understood liberty.

[Ozymandias Ghost]

“It’s is time to find a better ‘rule.’”
______________

Glad you pointed that out ...”Buckley’s Rule,” as practiced, has become a guaranteed formula for the incremental diminution of Conservatism. I think when William Buckley proposed it he assumed that Conservative candidates would always ascribe to a certain minimal list of Conservative principles as set forth in the Constitution.

The problem is that today we have candidates running who call themselves “conservatives” who are not at all conservative in the Buckley sense of the word and many voters who describe themselves as “strongly conservative” w/o any Constitutional basis for that description other than their own perception of social and/or religious tradition and values.

[PreciousLiberty]

"Good for you. Just can't understand why you'd choose a second rate candidate to fight for."

Santorum is not a "second rate candidate". He's the one who's beating your pick, consistently.

Read this again, and embrace it:

We need to follow Buckley's advice, and support the most conservative candidate who can win.

[PreciousLiberty]

"As long as Newt keeps fighting for Reagan’s conservative principles, like Sarah Palin does, I will continue to be with him."

"Principles" like amnesty for illegals? Bailouts? Some of Newt's current ideas sound good, but he's also always been a political opportunist. Take another long look at that lovely picture of Newt and Nancy on the couch together.

"Moderate Mitt is no Reagan-Palin conservative."

I certainly agree there.

"Neither is Santorum. He may mouth the words but his record proves otherwise."

I have to disagree.

Santorum's voting record strongly supports his conservative credentials. His lifetime ACU rating is only slightly behind Gingrich's, and it was above Gingrich's average his last year in office.

We need to unite around the only electable conservative candidate - that is Rick Santorum.

[CatherineofAragon]

I’m sorry, but with all I have seen and heard, I just do not believe Santorum can win. There’s a world of difference between him and Newt. Newt is on fire, talking about policy, his vision, with specifics......but just a few days ago, Santorum was still talking about JFK.

Now, that said, if Santorum somehow became the nominee, of course I would support him. Last night some Freepers said they wouldn’s support Romney OR Rick, which, to me, is ridiculous. Yes, I would get behind Santorum if necessary——but it would be with a very heavy heart.

As it stands, I’m still with Newt. I have no doubt he’s the man for the job. He stands head and shoulders above the rest.

[CatherineofAragon]

I briefly had Fox on this morning. A promo for one of their shows came on, with a picture of Newt and “SOUTHERN SHUT-OUT!” underneath. But no, they’re not in the tank For Romney.....it’s absurd to suggest it. /s