With or without Adelson, Gingrich aims for Tampa
(CNN) - Asked if he would end his campaign should his wealthiest backer, Sheldon Adelson, urge him to do so, Newt Gingrich insisted Friday he would stick it out until the very end.
"I'll be with you in Tampa," Gingrich said on CBS' "This Morning."
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Adelson, a Nevada casino mogul well known for his strong support for Israel, has donated millions in recent months to Winning Our Future, a pro-Gingrich super PAC.
"I'm happy to have somebody–who cares passionately about the Iranian nuclear weapon and somebody who cares passionately about the survival of Israel–independently support me," Gingrich said.
But the former House speaker argued Friday he has more than 175,000 online donors to consider when making a decision about his presidential run.
"They want me to stay in the race, and I really represent their interest as individuals," he said, adding that 95% of them have given less than $250.
After losing contests in Alabama and Mississippi this week, two states that many political observers considered must-wins for Gingrich to remain a viable candidate, the former speaker has faced mounting calls among Republican circles to drop out of the race.
One person not making that call, however, is rival Mitt Romney. The Republican candidate has largely kept quiet on the issue, signaling that Team Romney thinks Gingrich's candidacy is splitting the conservative vote, thus keeping Rick Santorum from surging ahead in the GOP horse race.
Asked on Friday if he thought Gingrich was hurting the Republican Party by staying in the race and shoring up delegates, Romney avoided making the case that his opponent should call it quits.
"Well, I don't know, but he certainly has every right to carry his campaign as long as he feels it has a meaningful opportunity for him to become the nominee and he cares very deeply about the country as I do, and I wish him well," Romney said on Fox News.
- CNN Political Editor Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
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All republican bafoon presidential canadates should report back to moon base for brefing from rush and nitwitquest on the next moon bus, thank you!
I wonder if the Rnc paid their hotel bills for the convention yet after trying to stiff them earlier this year???
Newt needs to take off the gloves and hit Romney and Santorum harder...all the way to the convention.
from the article:
"They want me to stay in the race, and I really represent their interest as individuals," he said, adding that 95% of them have given less than $250.
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Does anyone out there actually believe Newt Gingrich when he says that they, his "170,000 individual" donors, want him to stay in the race? I wonder how many of those small donors are from the state of Georgia.
This guy is the most stupid idiot I ever saw in my 58 years of life. True. He calls that Obama is for Saudi Oil, If it is so, why would he push Energy-Efficiency, which no president pushed so far. May be he is under drugs. Check while he is driving, please.
At this point, he doesn't even have enough delegates to affect the party platform. However, if he does bow out, Santorum will have a much easier time in garnering enough delegates to be a major problem. The thing with Newt keeping in the picture is he appeals to the old guard Conservatives and, in some cases, to Moderates. His presence keeps people from having to decide between Romney and Santorum, even though he will probably not win another state primary or caucus. Also, the fractious nature of this years Republican Campaign can only help President Obama's reelection. All he has to do is use the speeches that whoever wins the Republican nomination has been giving to show how far out of touch with mainstream America he is.
Mr. Arrogance–a legend is his own mind.
Yeah thats right talk sweet to him so he'll stay in. If he ego wasn't so big he might see Romney lose the nomination. But he is too grand and too intellectual to let anything like that happen. King Newt!!
Mr. Egomaniac has NO chance of winning the nomination. So why is he still wasting people's tiem and money? It's all about Newt and not the American people.
Gingrich really needs to review where he is and the likelihood of him getting close to the nomination. I just don't see how he can make it with Santorum in the race. Ron Paul is there for comic relief.
The GOP is fractured. Their base went too far, now their ideological spectrum is too broad and now they can't win. I'm guessing the far right is a no-show on election day unless a third party enters the race, and I'm guessing the Democrats go after Georgia.
Getting better day by day
Newt, you're making a big mistake. You need to think about something besides YOU.