Thoughts on Gingrich Staying In the Race...

[BlueDemKev]

I've been thinking long and hard since last night to try and understand why Newt Gingrich, who suffered humiliating defeats last night in his neighboring states of Alabama and Mississippi, insists on staying in the race for the Republican nomination. He's a fairly intelligent (albeit scary) individual, and surely he should know that he has no chance of reaching 1,144 delegates needed to win the GOP nomination. So, as many Republican Party loyalists are asking right now, what the heck is Newt trying to do?

My suspicion is that Newt, while a loyal Republican, is also a dedicated hard-core conservative who does NOT want a Mass. moderate Mitt Romney (who was pro-choice, pro-health care reform, and anti-Reaganomics before he ran for president) to win his party's nomination. Also, Newt probably perceives Romney as an "elitist" (which he despises with passion) given that he was born into a legendary and rich American family. So, why doesn't he just drop out, endorse Santorum, and allow Santorum to go head-to-head with Romney, which would prevent the splitting of the conservative vote and could very well land Newt the vice-presidential slot assuming Santorum gets the nomination?

The reason is this: Newt Gingrich doesn't believe that Santorum can beat Romney head-to-head, at least not in the voting booth. After all, he blew big leads in both Michigan and Ohio, two critical swing states whose Republican populace are not 100% conservative. Plus, the party establishment is backing Romney because they know good and well that Santorum would turn off both women as well as independent voters, and their goal is to defeat Barack Obama this November, even if it means settling for a less conservative candidate.

As such, having a two-person race between Santorum and Romney would most likely result in Romney winning the GOP nomination on the first ballot (i.e.--he'd have enough delegates going into Tampa to be the nominee). Gingrich believes that staying in the race and holding onto his few hundred delegates will ultimately deny Romney the 1,144 delegates he'd need to win the nomination outright. This would create a brokered convention in which the party could then end up nominating a conservative candidate--not Gingrich himself, but someone who's more representative of today's Republican Party.

I could be totally wrong, but this is the only logical explanation I can think of as to explain Newt Gingrich's motive for staying in the GOP primary race. What do you guys think?