Posted on 03/21/2012 2:43:57 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich says Rick Santorum’s double-digit loss in the Illinois primary shows he is not the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney — and he can’t defeat President Barack Obama.....
“Governor Romney had a pretty good day — I think he took a step towards clearly proving he was the front-runner. Senator Santorum didn’t have a particularly good day,” Gingrich said. “This is the third time now he has tried an industrial Midwestern . . . state and not succeeded. And I think that the conservatives have to think through the right strategy if they hope to stop Romney.
“We are faced, I think, with a very serious challenge, in terms of who can beat Barack Obama — that, in the end, is what this is all about,” he said. “So I’m staying in the race because I really do think it's a question of who can beat Barack Obama.”
[SNIP]
“Sean, it’s going to be a two-part process . . . phase one has to be stopping Romney because the fact is if he gets 1,144 vote, he’s the nominee, fair and square — it’s over,” Gingrich said. “On the other hand, if as voters look at this — as happened last week, for example in Mississippi and in Alabama, as happened the previous week in Kansas — if people say, no, they don’t want Romney, then I think you get to a situation after June 26, where there is a 60-day conversation.
“Santorum won’t have a majority, I won’t have a majority, Romney won’t, Ron Paul won’t — if that’s what happens, then we will....
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
At this stage (over half-way through the primaries), the 2 non-Romney alternatives are battling each other for position. As in 2008, they are cutting each other’s throats because they are not allowing one of them to carry the banner and, thus, gain momentum as a viable alternative to Romney.
Many voters see Romney now as the only real winnable alternative, because he has almost twice as many delegates as the others. Separately, Santorum and Gingrich are not deterring that perception that Romney will get the nomination.
It is 2008 all over again, with the conservative/Tea Party side losing, because Gingrich — who cannot win mathematically — stays in to try to upset the apple cart.
If Gingrich honestly thinks he would come out of a brokered convention with the nomination, he is more delusional that many of us already think he is. It won’t happen. Gingrich has become the Hucka-hanger-on of 2012.
For those who might be interested:
March 21
Newt calls in to EZ News in the Morning
Wednesday, March 21 – 8:10am ET CT
KEZP, Alexandria, LA
LISTEN LIVE
Newt calls in to Joe Cironi’s radio show
Wednesday, March 21 – 8:30am ET CT
KAOK, Lake Charles, LA
LISTEN LIVE
Pineville Town Hall with Newt and Callista
Wednesday, March 21 – 9:00 – 10:00am CT
Louisiana College
Granberry Auditorium
Pineville, LA 71360
Note: This event is free and open to the public.
Callista visits Lake Charles Charter School
Wednesday, March 21 - 1pm – 2pm CT
Lake Charles Charter School
2750 Power Center Pkwy
Lake Charles, LA 70607
Note: Mrs. Gingrich will tour the school and read “Sweet Land of Liberty” to students.
Lake Charles Meet & Greet with Newt and Callista
Wednesday, March 21 - 1pm – 2pm CT
Harlequin Steak and Seafood
510 College Street
Lake Charles, LA
Note: This event is free and open to the public.
Callista visits Miles Perret Cancer Center
Wednesday, March 21 - 4pm – 5pm CT
Miles Perret Cancer Services Facility
2130 Kaliste Saloom Road #200
Lafayette, LA 70508
Lafayette Rally with Newt and Callista
Wednesday, March 21 - 7pm – 8pm CT
Hilton Lafayette
1521 West Pinhook Road
Lafayette, LA 70503
Note: This event is free and open to the public.
Newt is interviewed by Greta van Susteren
Wednesday, March 21 – 9pm CT / 10pm ET
Fox News
March 22
Callista visits The Baton Rouge Center for the Visual & Performing Arts
Thursday, March 22 - 4pm – 5pm CT
Baton Rouge Center for the Visual & Performing Arts
2040 S. Acadian Thruway
Baton Rouge, LA 70808
Newt participates in the Baton Rouge Tea Party Presidential Forum & Straw Poll hosted by the LSU College Republicans
Thursday, March 22 - 8pm – 9:30pm CT
Louisiana State University
Cox Auditorium
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
March 23
Newt tours Port Fourchon
Friday, March 23 – 9:15am – 9:45am CT
Port Fourchon, LA
Newt speaks on American energy policy
Friday, March 23 - 10am – 10:30am CT
Port Fourchon, LA
Callista visits Tulane Children’s Hospital
Friday, March 23 - 10:30am – 11:30am CT
Tulane Children’s Hospital
1415 Tulane Avenue, 6th Floor
New Orleans, LA 70112
Note: Mrs. Gingrich will tour the hospital and read “Sweet Land of Liberty” to the children.
Hispanic Roundtable Meeting
Friday, March 23 - 2:30pm – 3:30pm CT
Oakland Plantation Estates
8 Oakland Rd.
Kenner, LA 70065
Tulane University Town Hall Meeting with Newt and Callista
Friday, March 23 - 4pm – 5pm CT
Tulane University
New Orleans, LA
I agree with the first half of what you wrote. I disagree that the reason Santorum isn’t winning is Newt. He isn’t attracting a majority because he comes off like a self-rightious high-school hall monitor, and says stupid stuff like he doesn’t care about the unemployment rate. Once you say something like that you can’t walk it back. Anyway, the bottom line is Romney is winning more delegates than all the other candidates put together.
Oh well, ABO.
WOW. What an obnoxious twit. I suppose that his single digit 4th palce finish make HIM the alternative?
um... Newt ... if people look at the poll numbers they will see that Newt has lost more and by bigger margins
This is sheer, stubborn and obdurate idiocy! How anyone with half a brain can still believe that Newt Gingrich has a chance at winning anything from here on out is beyond me. You think the Christian Right is EVER going to get behind this man? The guy who takes the stage with his adoring wife who not all that long ago was his adulterous mistress? You think guys like Tony Perkins or Gary Bauer will EVER sanction that guy? If you do you are out of your mind.
Newt has about a 59% unfavorable rating among the general population and he does even worse among women. The absolute worst case scenario in this primary would be a Newt candidacy!
If Newt wants to stop Mittens he can by leaving his ego at the door and beca class act and throw his support to Rick.
We will get a split convention and anything goes from there .
He is losing here in LA which shows he is finished.
Mittens must be stopped .
These must be the same ones who get a new credit card once they've maxed out all the ones they already have.
I'll vote for who I think will save this country and you can vote for the one who is "most electable."
Tell you what: if Newt is such a loser, all of the Santorum supporters should urge Rick to withdraw from Louisiana and let Newt have HIS one-on-one with Romney.
First of all, Santorum lost to Romney in a very BLUE state that won’t go for Romney in the fall so who cares? Louisiana is not the state that is fair for Satnorum to get out because of course if Santorum got out Newt would win. I would say that Santorum drop out of California and see how Newt does one on one with Romney and see what happens. That is a fair comparison to Illinois.
So, Bauer, Perkins and Co. will overlook being a midwife to an abortionist but mark an adulteress? That’s good to know.
It’s a leftist state. And unless he is Mark Kirk or George Ryan he won’t get elected. Plus Gingrich wouldn’t win Illinois either so he pulled out of campaigning.
I am going to assume that your feelings are running high this morning, and that you truly don't believe such hateful things. By the way, Newt demanded, and got, an apology from the White House for ALL the first lady candidates.
I have read 52 posts on this thread and I think you are all wistling past the graveyard. I am not a big fan of any of these candidates but I can count...http://projects.wsj.com/campaign2012/delegates
Yeah, I read about Hume projecting his anger over his son’s suicide onto Newt. The elite are a strange bunch.
What was telling to me, was the one Fox News Illinois Exit Poll number that had Newt on top:
“Regardless of who you vote for, who do you believe holds the right political views?”
NEWT!
And:
Robert Di Niro: “My remarks, although spoken with satirical jest, were not meant to offend or embarrass anyone, especially the first lady.”
http://www.contactmusic.com/news/de-niro-apologises-for-inappropriate-fundraiser-joke_1307830
IU don’t believe what? That Callista was his adulterous mistress? I do indeed believe that as it is a fact. And if you think people are going to overlook that glaring example of Newt’s flawed character you are deluding yourself. I’m not attacking his wife...I’m merely pointing out the obvious. When you wonder why the Christian Right hasn’t supported him you don’t have to look very far to figure it out.
What an assinine, ridiculous comment. Can I assume the j. stands for jackass?
Cook County and the collar counties around it, plus metro Springield and Peoria, went for Romney, often by a 10+ percentage point spread. These counties have produced such Congressional representatives as Henry Hyde, Don Rumsfeld, and Phil Crane, a more conservative crew than the New York and Philadelphia suburban RINOs. Hillary Clinton grew up in the Chicago suburbs; she was a Goldwater supporter, like her father, until her liberal Methodist church and the Ivy League turned her mind to Marxist mush. Wheaton College, the cademically strongest university among evangelicals, is located in the Chicago suburbs.
Romney appears to be winning the higher income and economically conservative voters. Santorum is strongest among small town and lower income social conservatives, especially evangelicals. Gingrich's numbers have sunk below those of Ron Paul, the 2012 equivalent of Harold Stassen.
Recently, Politico speculated that both Gingrich and Paul are "in the tank" for Romney. I suspect their egos rather than conspiracy are the culprit. Paul holds his rallies on college campuses, where they are very well attended. His ego is fueled by the big rallies, which results in him getting 10-20% of the vote in counties with big colleges, e.g., Champaign County. Gingrich gets high on being back in the national spotlight for the first time in over a decade and lobbing shots at Obama when he attacked Gingrich's energy program.
If there is to be hope for a more conservative candidate than Romney, Santorum, for all his flaws, is the man.
Illinois Mar 20 Romney Santorum Paul Gingrich 428,434 321,072 85,464 72,942 Romney +107,362
24 States left to vote: 13 closed - 11 open
1099 (48%) Delegates remaining to be selected
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