Newt Gingrich’s week started out badly for him with a crushing loss in the Nevada caucuses that was followed by a press conference in which the former speaker demonstrated anew that his candidacy is driven as much by personal hatred of frontrunner Mitt Romney as it is by his own ambition. But things got worse for him today with the release of fresh polling data in two of the states to hold caucuses on Tuesday. Public Policy Polling’s latest findings on the caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota show him trailing not only Romney but also Rick Santorum.
In Colorado, Romney is poised for another big win, with PPP showing him leading with 40 percent of the vote. But rather than Gingrich, it is Rick Santorum who is in second place there with 26 percent. Gingrich is in third with 18 percent while Ron Paul is in last with 12 percent. Even more alarming for the speaker is that Santorum is in the lead in Minnesota edging Romney 29 to 27 percent with Gingrich in third trailing behind with 22 percent. What this means is though Gingrich’s strategy may be to hold on until the Super Tuesday primaries, by then it may be clear it is Santorum who is the only viable “non-Romney” left in the race.
A Santorum victory in Minnesota alongside a Romney win in Colorado isn’t likely to derail the frontrunner. But it will, along with the results in Missouri’s non-binding primary where Gingrich isn’t even on the ballot, bolster the idea that the former Pennsylvania senator is the only real alternative to the Romney juggernaut.
Though Santorum’s chances at the nomination are not much better than those of Gingrich, his might be a protest candidacy that might not tear the party apart. The worst he has said of Romney is he can’t beat Obama. The contrast in the last few days between Santorum and Gingrich couldn’t be stronger. While Santorum has avoided mudslinging and reaped a lot of good will because of the public’s sympathy for him about his daughter Bella’s illness, Gingrich has more or less gone off the deep end. His bitterness at being beaten in the debates before the Florida primary and being trounced by Romney in the last two primaries has become the main theme of his candidacy.
Gingrich’s advantage over Santorum has been money. But if Gingrich’s main backers, such as pro-Israel casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, become convinced he is embarked on a suicide mission whose only purpose is Romney’s destruction, they may decide to pull the plug on him. If this week’s results allow Santorum to get ahead of Gingrich, the speaker may never catch him and soon find himself fading out of the race altogether.
If Romney is the nominee, I write-in Ron Paul.
And if you do that, you're stupid. That is a vote for B. Hussein. Haven't you watched and listened to B. Hussein recently? Like before the Super Bowl with Matt Lauer where he demands a second term because he has "saved" America. This clown's IQ is around 80. He is bankrupting America and you want to vote for 76 year old Ron Paul who cannot possibly win?
Write in Ron Paul and you help Obama get re-elected. n nI think it's on-balance good for Romney to have these other guys still in the nomination race; he has to stay on his toes, refine his positions and especially his communication skills, and (sadly) the petulant Gingrich makes Romney look good! I was also glad to hear of the Romney campaign's ruthlessness–that is what it is going to take to turn Obama out of the White House. Romney needs to go after Obama 24/7.
you are 100% correct. Romney, for better or worse, is going to be the nominee. it doesn’t matter if I agree with him on everything, or if he was my first choice or not. he’s my choice now–he’s the only choice we have.
and Romney was smart in his Nevada victory speech to ignore Newt and concentrate on Obama. Newt’s done, he just doesn’t realize it yet.
Obama must not be reelected. we’re seeing him on his best behavior now, trying to get votes. I shudder to think what a lame-duck Obama would do, especially with respect to Israel and the whole ME mess.
Gingrich isn't thinking straight. He's been humiliated by Romney, and his approach has been to admit nothing, blame everyone, and be bitter. This guy has more baggage than an old Pan Am flight packed to the gills with Gabor sisters, and thus he was always a particularly lousy candidate.
Gingrich has some major issues. He needs to get out with what little diginity he has left.
You speak of Obama as this insurmountable obstacle. Obama is not a great orator. His 2008 campaign depended on the usual platitudes of hope and change, and echoed the left's antipathy against the W. Bush administration. Americas have already caught themselves transferring their own ideas of the perfect speech onto Obama's paltering rhetoric, and hopefully can safeguard against doing it again. n nAnd Romney's attacks on Obama are actually quite stirring. His victory speeches come across as a symphony of reprisals against Obama's failures. For instance, Romney is particularly adept in artfully underscoring Obama's outrageous tendency to apologize for American achievements in the international community, by claiming Obama ought to apologize to America for throwing us under the bus. n n
I don't think even Ron Paul would want write-in votes given the specter of a 2nd Obama term.
Gingrich is the least viable of all – the McCain of 2012. McCain was temporarily aided by crossover Dims, who are failing Newt – strangely – considering all the Dim Marxist programs that Newt fights for, Global Warming, Obama's Arne Duncan Pedophilia-Pushing "Educational" agenda, and Shamnesty, and Obamacare. n nSantorum and Paul don't have the weightiness or integrity to draw enough to the polls. Mitt doesn't have the Conservativeness to draw well, or do what needs to be done to Save the Nation. n nIt is sad. The GOP shows us they have no intention of separating themselves from Dims, regardless of the Dim agenda to destroy our Constitution and our Nation in favor of Marxist dictatorships.