Newt Gingrich to get out: Santorum’s Allies

Supporters of Rick Santorum are beating the drum for Newt Gingrich to exit the presidential race.

Santorum — who picked up wins in Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Dakota on Super Tuesday — wouldn’t call explicitly on Gingrich to leave the race.

In Kansas, the site of this Saturday’s caucuses, the former Pennsylvania senator said he was unaware of any attempts by his campaign or supporters to muscle Gingrich out.

“I’m not saying I don’t want him to get out,” Santorum said when pressed by reporters. “If he wants to get out, I’m all for him getting out. I’m for Mitt Romney getting out. I wish President Obama would just hand me the thing, but that’s not going to happen.”

But Gingrich — who frequently calls Santorum a friend — wouldn’t have listened anyway. He’s not planning on going anywhere, he said Wednesday. The former House speaker won just one state on Super Tuesday — his former home state of Georgia, which he represented in the House for over two decades.

“We are staying in this race because I believe it’s going to be impossible for a moderate to win the general election,” Gingrich said yesterday.

But the simple fact remains: Santorum’s chances of winning the Republican nod are significantly hampered by Gingrich’s presence in the contest, or vice versa.

At various points in the race, the two former lawmakers both had legitimate claims to the title of the anti-Mitt Romney candidate. But it’s Santorum who has won more states and held voters’ attention more persistently.

As the race turns to the South — where Romney isn’t strong and evangelical voters abound — conservatives will be splitting their vote between Gingrich and Santorum as long as they are both on the ballot.

Santorum’s top allies on his super PAC, the Red, White and Blue Fund, argued that Gingrich should get out on Wednesday.

“Based on his electoral performance last night and his out-of-step record it is time for Newt Gingrich to exit the Republican nominating process,” PAC adviser Stuart Roy wrote in a memo. “With Gingrich exiting the race it would be a true head-to-head race and conservatives would be able to make a choice between a consistent conservative in Rick Santorum or Mitt Romney.”

“Were Newt Gingrich to suspend his campaign now, and endorse Rick Santorum, he could provide that unity and, through such a great act of statesmanship, open a new chapter in his storied political career,” Richard A. Viguerie, chairman of ConservativeHQ.com said in a statement yesterday morning, As reported to Politico. “As the astute student of history that he is, Speaker Gingrich is unique among the candidates in his ability to appreciate that the greatest acts of patriotism always involve a measure of self-sacrifice, such as setting aside one’s personal ambitions in favor of what is best for your country.”

Gingrich’s camp said yesterday it hadn’t received any phone calls from party insiders appealing to him to throw in the towel. Whether Santorum made a personal plea to Gingrich, spokesman R.C. Hammond said he would have no way of knowing since the two candidates don’t use intermediary staff to communicate. In the past, the two have exchanged emails.

“This is a novel idea, I know, a candidate of Newt’s stature is capable of using a cell phone. It’s crazy,” Hammond said.

Previously, it has been Gingrich who has nudged other candidates to get out of the race.

In the days leading up to the South Carolina primary, Gingrich walked a delicate line, stopping just short of saying Santorum and Rick Perry should quit. Ultimately, Perry did opt to return to Texas and endorse Gingrich.

But Santorum pushed back at Gingrich’s call for him to exit, arguing that he would be more successful down the road. He was right.

In early February, a Santorum supporter even charged that Gingrich’s camp started pushing the former Pennsylvania to drop out before the Florida primary, when his daughter Bella became ill. Gingrich’s campaign vehemently denied that charge at the time.

Asked at a campaign stop at a gas station in Pell City, Ala., about the calls by Santorum supporters for him to quit, Gingrich didn’t respond and instead chided the reporter for the question.

Gingrich supporters were quick to try to reject the calls for him to jump ship.

“Folks, only 1/3 of the delegates have been allotted!” Herman Cain tweeted. “It’s too soon to call on a candidate to withdraw from the race!”

Gingrich’s campaign did start drawing a clear line in the sand, however, noting Wednesday morning that he needs to win Alabama and Mississippi next week in order to continue. They also attempted to explain a decision to cancel campaign stops in Kansas this weekend, saying the move shouldn’t be read as a sign that Gingrich is giving up.

Romney’s camp — the obvious beneficiary of the two-way conservative strife — wouldn’t directly comment on his rivals’ futures.

“So we don’t worry about who’s left and who’s not,” the campaign official said. “We worry about ours.”

If Gingrich did leave the race, a Romney endorsement would be unlikely. Gingrich’s disdain for Romney was on full display through the early primary states after the former Massachusetts governor attacked him in Iowa.

Regardless of if he were to endorse, Gingrich dropping out before Alabama and Mississippi likely boosts Santorum’s chances in the Southern states where both enjoy a strong level of support. With Gingrich still in the race, a three-way division improves Romney’s chances of not finishing last. It also divides the delegates and keeps Santorum from gaining ground.

The evidence of this happening was evident in Tuesday’s results in Virginia, where Ron Paul was the only candidate on the ballot besides Romney. Paul had his best showing of the day, receiving 40 percent of the vote in Virginia, compared with his next-best performance of 28 percent in North Dakota.

When asked if Gingrich dropping out would allow Santorum to wage a more competitive race against Romney, Gingrich’s spokesman rejected the argument out of hand.

“No,” Hammond said when asked if Santorum would have won Ohio with a Gingrich endorsement. “I’ll comment on tomorrow’s news, not yesterday’s.”