GOP nomination: Newt nudged, Romney scores endorsement
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich speaks at a rally with his wife, Callista, at the Jackson Hilton today in Jackson, Miss.
As Mitt Romney scored an important endorsement, Newt Gingrich received another unwelcome tap on the shoulder from a prominent conservative.
The Republican Party’s presidential nomination race has turned its attention to next Tuesday’s primaries in Alabama and Mississippi.
While some see Romney as the underdog in the Deep South, his campaign received an endorsement today from Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant.
“It is my honor and privilege to endorse my friend, Gov. Mitt Romney, as president of the United States," Bryant said, CNN reported. “I am encouraged and supportive of Gov. Romney’s conservative policies on key issues like more American energy development, cracking down on illegal immigration, and putting in place job creation policies that will jumpstart our economy.”
Romney is campaigning today and Friday in the state.
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While Romney gained steam, former GOP presidential candidate Gary Bauer suggested Rick Santorum deserved unanimous support. Bauer, who leads Campaign for Working Families, presented results from a poll of 200,000 Republicans who said they needed to unite behind one candidate now.
“Having run myself, I know how difficult it can be when you are in the arena and asked to step aside,” he said, the Washington Examiner reported. “The Super Tuesday results made it clear that there is a strong conservative majority in the GOP primaries, but that vote is divided. Tuesday’s results also made it clear that Sen. Santorum has the advantage. Now is the time for conservatives to stand with Sen. Santorum.”
Bauer's poll suggests 74 percent of conservatives are behind the idea of a single candidate ahead of the nomination's conclusion, and 82 percent of those respondents support Santorum. Also, of those polled, 36,000 back Romney.
Gingrich has won two of the nomination contests thus far, his home state of Georgia and neighboring South Carolina.
Everything appears to be riding on Tuesday’s southern sojourn even though Kansas happens on Saturday.
“Most people are holding their fire until after Alabama and Mississippi," Republican observer Keith Appel told the Wall Street Journal. “If Santorum goes in there and wins, the pressure on Gingrich to get out will be immense.”
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