GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich said Sunday that he would back front-runner Mitt Romney and acknowledged what many have been predicting for months; Romney is the inevitable nominee.
“I think you have to be realistic, given the size of his organization, given the number of primaries he’s won, he is far and away the most likely Republican nominee,” Gingrich said of Romney in an appearance on Fox News Sunday. “If he does get to 1,144 delegates, I’ll support him and I’ll do everything I can this fall to help him defeat Obama because the primary goal of the entire Republican party has to be to defeat Barack Obama.”
The Gingrich campaign has been running on fumes in recent weeks, evidenced by the massive restructuring of his campaign staff. Even casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who contributed more than $16 million to a Gingrich Super PAC, pulled the plug on the former Speaker after miserable showings in some state primaries and caucuses. Gingrich himself said he fell victim to high-stakes campaigning and now said he owes nearly $4.5 million, a figure he said is “much more than he wanted to” pay.
“Unfortunately, our guys tried to match Romney and we didn’t have anything like that capacity,” Gingrich said. “It turned out to be much harder than I thought it would be.
The next primary contest is two weeks away in Pennsylvania, home state to Romney’s biggest competition former Sen. Rick Santorum. If the former senator fails to win, and win big, in Pennsylvania, calls for him to step aside will likely increase. Given Gingrich’s “concession” over the inevitability of Romney’s nomination, the next contest in the Keystone State could be the final blow Romney’s competitors.
