Posted on 04/27/2012 2:00:43 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, is yet to clinch all the 1,144 delegates he needs to officially be declared the winner of the race, and all but one of his previous campaign rivals have given him their support – with Rick Santorum being the only apparent holdout.
It was revealed Wednesday that both Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who dropped out of the Republican presidential race in January, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, have decided to endorse Romney.
"So today I join the many conservative Republicans across the nation in endorsing Mitt Romney for president and pledge to him, my constituents and the Republican Party that I will continue to work hard to help defeat President (Barack) Obama," Perry said, according to Reuters. Perry had initially endorsed Gingrich when he dropped out of the race.
Gingrich , who is still technically in the race, made it quite clear yesterday that he will be suspending his campaign next week.
According to Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond, on Wednesday morning, the former House Speaker spoke to Romney by phone and shared that he will endorse him for the presidency, The Wall Street Journal reported.
"I think you have to at some point be honest with what's happening in the real world, as opposed to what you'd like to have happened," Gingrich said after Romney swept big victories in five Northeastern states on Tuesday. "Gov. Romney had a very good day yesterday. He got 67 [percent] in one state, and he got 63 in other, 62 in another. Now you have to give him some credit, I mean this guy's worked six years, put together a big machine, and has put together a serious campaign."
While the Republican Party largely seems to be uniting behind their presumptive nominee to face President Obama in the general election in November, arguably Romney's biggest rival, Rick Santorum, who suspended his campaign two weeks ago, remains on the fence on whether he will endorse the former Massachusetts governor or not.
The former Pennsylvania senator has avoided using the word "endorsement" or confirming comments suggesting he would endorse Romney, but according to ABC News, two senior advisers of Santorum's campaign have said that he will be meeting with Romney on May 4. They added that it is "possible" Santorum will make an official endorsement.
In a Tuesday interview with CNN's Piers Morgan, Santorum admitted that Romney would be the GOP candidate to face Obama, and he expressed his commitment to his party – but when asked if his remarks were an endorsement of Romney, Santorum simply said, "You can call it whatever you want."
Santorum promoted his campaign as a social conservative and spoke openly on issues such as abortion and homosexual marriage, and often criticized Romney for not expressing a firm stance on such points. The former Pennsylvania senator appealed largely to evangelicals and conservative Christians, and had gained the backing of many pastors and church leaders across the country. In the end, however, he was unable to compete with Romney's broader appeal.
Iowa voters received last week a late letter seeking contributions to Santorum's campaign, in which he warned that conservatives will be "crippled" if Romney wins. In the letter, Santorum said, "It truly frightens me to think what'll happen if Mitt Romney is the nominee."
Still, his wife, Karen Santorum, said during the CNN interview that they are "working through" and "talking about" formally endorsing Romney, although whether or when that will happen remains to be seen.
Romney's remaining rival, Congressman Ron Paul, has said that he intends to remain in the race even if the former Massachusetts governor nabs the GOP nomination. The highest number of votes Paul attracted in this week's Northeastern primaries was 23.9 percent in Rhode Island, where Romney got 63.2 percent of votes.
"We're in the third lap of a mile race. Who knows? Maybe someone will stumble. You can never tell. If tomorrow Romney had the absolute number, I would continue in a modified way," Rep. Paul said Monday on CNBC.
“If Gingrich endorses Romney - swish!!!!”
Gingrich already did endorse Romney.
They all will support the candidate who they feel will do the least amount of harm, and I don’t blame them for that.
But I must admit I’m shocked that we are in this position, and very upset.
SWISH!
Well, well... if Newt says to vote for Mittens, then I guess real conservatives know what they have to do.
/facepalm
Good post.
I, too, am sick up to here with all the worthless scum on this forum who went after (and inexplicably continue to go after) Santorum.
He should just retweet that with a "ditto."
Not this one..I don’t select candidates based on endorsements. Though it’s always great if my guys the one they endorse....but in this case Newt’s endorsement is simply what politicians do in and election.
Santorum’s probably holding out for his position....that play is different since he holds the delegates he does...and well..Santorum likes to “play” the game.
LOL...you go that right...still laughing.
No I won’t critizize Newt on his support for Romney now....he’s just doing what he said he’d do at the beginning of the debates if he didn’t win...doesn’t matter who would get it...he’d support them. So this should not be disturbing to any here.
“.. won’t critizize Newt on his support for Romney now..”
That’s fine, as long as you have the same standards for all of the candidates.
Romney thanks all you guys, who did your part to bash Rick Santorum, the only candidate who could stop Mitt from getting the nod.
I wasn't attacking either of those two fine gentlemen and candidates.
I was simply pointing our how wrong were my FR associates who took every opportunity to smear another good man and fine candidate, Santorum. Sage political analysts they are not.
BTW you were not among them.
“Rick Santorum was ripped to pieces on a daily basis here at FR....torn to shreds...”
Oh, please! Name ONE candidate who wasn’t torn to shreds here on a daily basis. Just ONE.
And folks wonder how we ended up with Romney. ha!
On the fence
.......
But most likely will jump off at some point down the road.
Rick ok with new Romney hire .. http://www.politico.com/blogs/charlie-mahtesian/2012/04/rick-ok-with-new-romney-hire-121849.html
snip
In another sign that Republicans are uniting behind Mitt Romney with an eye to November, Rick Santorum’s national campaign manager has signed on as Romney’s deputy national director of coalitions.
The Union Leader reports today that the Romney camp reached out to New Hampshire-based activist Mike Biundo not long after Santorum left the race for a post that will involve coalition-building with key conservative coalitions such as “tea party activists, evangelicals, the pro-life community and the Second Amendment community.”
Santorum has yet to formally endorse Romney, and his camp has been careful to note that a scheduled May 4 meeting between them is not for the purposes of announcing an endorsement.
end snip
For the record, the title to this article is misleading.
Governor Perry endorsed Romney but Gingrich has not done so. The title is your typical ploy by writers in the media to use a headline to grab readers but the facts do not support it. Gingrich may endorse in early May - it’s not here though.
As a matter of fact I do see it that way...they are politicians and they operate in the politcal arena. So I expect along the way they’ll be edorsing someone of their choosing......it just goes with the territory they operate. It’s the neighborhood they work in and among.
Rick wasn't in it to win from the get go....the Gop had other plans for Rick and used him well, just as they did in Congress...willingly I might add.....and it worked.
Santorum is going to be the nominee in 2016. He is next in line after Romney gets creamed this round. Romney might lose by the biggest margin in history. Shame that some of you guys seem to rather have Romney than a good man and candidate like Santorum. Oh well enjoy your next four years. Glad I won’t be able to be blamed.
Glad I won't be able to be blamed.
I'm always torn between laughter and disgust when I see smug self-satisfaction on this board. You think that you will have discharged your moral duty if you vote for Santorum. Well, if you refuse to vote because Santorum isn't the candidate, you will be blamed, because we know what poison Obama is.
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