The Gingrich campaign finally seems to be acknowledging that it’s mathematically impossible for them to win the nomination in the traditional way at this point. So Newt has now settled on a new goal: stay in the race in order to prevent Mitt Romney from collecting the 1,144 delegates needed to wrap up the nomination. Byron York reports:
Gingrich no longer says he can capture the 1,144 delegates required to wrap up the Republican nomination. Instead, he now speaks frankly about a new plan: Keep Romney from getting to 1,144 by the end of the GOP primary season in June, and then start what Gingrich calls a “conversation” about who should be the Republican nominee. That conversation, the plan goes, would lead to a brokered GOP convention at which Gingrich would emerge as the eventual nominee.
“Our goal first is to keep Romney well below 1,000,” Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said an hour before Gingrich addressed a small crowd of disappointed supporters gathered at the Wynfrey Hotel. ”It doesn’t have to be 1,000, or 1,050 — it has to be below 1,100.” If Gingrich succeeds, Hammond continued, “This will be the first time in our party in modern politics that we’re going to go to the convention floor.”
Of course, if the goal is to undermine Romney’s chance at the nomination, the last thing Gingrich should be doing is staying in the race. The longer he stays in, the more he helps Romney by siphoning support away from Rick Santorum and splitting the conservative vote.
And if there were ever a time when Santorum needed Gingrich out of the race, it’s now, with the crucial Illinois primary just a week away. Coming off his two victories in Alabama and Mississippi, Santorum has the momentum at this point to potentially take Illinois – and deal a devastating blow to the Romney campaign in the process.
The latest poll from the Chicago Tribune shows Romney leading Santorum by just four points, 35 percent to 31 percent, with Gingrich trailing at 12 percent. If Gingrich drops out, endorses Santorum, and urges his supporters to vote for him, it could easily push the former Pennsylvania senator over the top in the state. And if, after dropping out, Gingrich agreed to pledge the delegates he’s already won to Santorum, it could completely change the dynamic of the race and actually make it competitive again.
Gingrich has the potential to do more damage to the Romney campaign than any other candidate at this point. But that would require him to drop out of the race, something he hasn’t shown any interest in doing. Instead, he’s trying to justify his losing campaign by saying he’s staying in the race to hurt Romney. Is anyone actually buying that excuse?
It sure seems to me that Gingrich wants to hurt both Romney and Santorum. Though it's obvious he hates Romney, Santorum has simply bested him with the base Gingrich thought was his, and in the south! He seems loath to give to Santorum when Santorum took from him. This is reminding me of big wigs in the Democratic party wanting to know why Hillary was staying in, when Obama had more delegates than she but she had more states. Of course, Romney has more delegates but Gingrich's presence isn't making much sense and I'm thinking that he's going to get nothing ultimately from it from Santorum.
Well said, particularly last paragraph. I had been operating under the presumption that Romney had made it so personal against Gingrich that Gingrich solely wanted a pound of flesh in retribution — "mutual assured destruction" on a very personal basis. n nHmmm…. I am reminded of the old joke "don't vote, it only encourages them" and fear that increasingly that is the attitude of the conservatives in this country. And if people honestly think that Romney's strategy of $17/vote is going to win the general election, let alone is even sustainable much longer in the primaries, well may I suggest a remedial math class?
Newt's strategy makes sense. View the race as a boxing match (nevermind there are three people in the ring, four if you must include Ron Paul, sprawled out on the mat). All Gingrich needs to do is hang on, keep moving, punch a bit and wait for the final bell. Yes, he's been beaten in many rounds, but rather than dropping to a knee or not answering the bell, he's forced the judges to score the contest. n nThe "judges" in Newt's case are the delegates and an American public seeing something unusual in a traditionally lackluster event. Newt will have a lot of time to influence them before and during the convention. Among the candidates still standing, Newt is the most skilled at making a compelling argument and moving a room to a reaction. n
nEven if the strategy doesn't earn Newt the nomination, being untraditional and staying in the fight is useful in a historic context: Pre-ordained Republican nominees have often been second-rate. Newt could bow out now, become an obscure footnote in the race and change nothing, or he could challenge the ordainment ceremonies at the 2012 GOP Convention and become a larger piece of American History. n nNewt's interest in history and "future history" make his course of action both predictable and logical.
Sheldon Adelson does not like Santorum and feels that bankrolling Gingrich is the best way to torpedo Rick. nGingrich , the only one who seems to be enjoying himself, is just happy for the attention. Newt would rather attend the spectacle of a brokered convention than be a team player. It's just Newt being Newt.
This does make sense and is disturbing