Gingrich urged to clear way for rival
UNITED STATES: Newt Gingrich was under renewed pressure to drop out of the race for the Republican nomination yesterday and back Rick Santorum after the former Pennsylvania senator claimed a double victory in the Deep South.
The former House Speaker was urged to encourage Right-wing Republicans to unite behind Santorum, who won Alabama and Mississippi on Wednesday, and halt the slow march to victory by Mitt Romney, the relative moderate ex-massachusetts governor.
‘‘The time is now for conservatives to pull together,’’ Santorum told jubilant supporters at a rally in Louisiana.
He later said Gingrich, who knocked Romney into third place in both southern primaries, was no longer ‘‘in the mix for getting the nomination’’.
Party strategists said the time had come to allow Santorum to take on Romney alone.
‘‘Gingrich’s final act could be king-maker by getting out and endorsing,’’ blogged Erick Erickson, a Republican commentator.
Polls indicate that Santorum, an evangelical Roman Catholic, would collect most of Gingrich’s supporters, many of whom dislike Romney for his past stances on abortion and homosexual rights in liberal-leaning Massachusetts.
‘‘Newt had a great run but Santorum has earned a one-on-one shot with Romney,’’ said Keith Appell, a veteran Republican operative. ‘‘Santorum so exceeded expectations in the South that his campaign will now be energised with money and enthusiasm.’’
Gingrich stubbornly pledged to fight on until August’s party convention in Florida. A senior adviser to his campaign told The Huffington Post website that he and Santorum ‘‘would make a powerful team against Barack Obama’’, hinting that a deal for him to step aside could be struck.
Friends of Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino tycoon from Las Vegas who has given millions of dollars in campaign funds for Gingrich, were quoted as saying he had ‘‘written his last cheque’’.
Romney, who finished a close third in the South and won caucuses in Hawaii and American Samoa, actually emerged from the night with 41 new delegates to the party convention, compared with Santorum’s 35 and Gingrich’s 24.
With their candidate now holding 494 delegates to Santorum’s 251 and Gingrich’s 131, Romney aides claimed his rivals had merely ‘‘moved closer to their date of mathematical elimination’’. The winning candidate for the nomination must have 1144 delegates.
Romney’s failure to win over the party ‘‘base’’ in two of the most conservative states will add to mounting concerns that he would be incapable of rallying enough enthusiasm to beat Obama in November’s general election.