Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich says the odds are “very, very high” that rival Mitt Romney will not get the 1,144 delegates needed to secure the nomination before the Republican National Convention and although the former Massachusetts governor currently might be the front-runner he is the weakest one since 1920.
Gingrich also reiterated to Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren Monday he believes he has a “good chance” to win today’s Alabama and Mississippi primaries.
“Well, I’m going to tell you it’s very, very close — we think we have a good chance to win both states,” Gingrich said. “But in terms of the nomination, the biggest story tomorrow night’s going to be simple: Governor Romney will get at most one out of every three delegates. Once again, he will fall dramatically short.
“He may be the front-runner, but he’s the weakest front-runner since Leonard Wood in 1920, and I think that the odds against his being able to get 1,144 delegates is very, very high,” the former House speaker said. “I think he’s more likely to be a front-runner who ends up not finishing the race.”
Switching gears, Van Susteren asked Gingrich about rumors that if he gets the nomination, he might choose former presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry as his running mate. Gingrich said such talk is premature.
“Well, I've not talked directly to Rick Perry. I think it’s way too premature to talk to anybody about anything,” Gingrich said. “Governor Romney has every right, if he can win the nomination, to pick whoever he wants to that he thinks will help him win the election or who he thinks would be a good vice president — that’s his call.
“My point is I think that he is a long way from the nomination, much further than the establishment thinks he is — if you actually count the legally bound delegates, he has a long, long road,” he said. “And — like him — I’m not worried very much right now about who the vice presidential nominee will be. I’m worried about what's the path to the nomination.”
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