Gingrich Adviser: Romney Should Quit Race, Leave It To Conservatives

Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign has an interesting response to a call from the super PAC supporting Rick Santorum for the former House speaker to exit the race. It’s front-runner Mitt Romney who should say sayonara, says Gingrich policy adviser Vince Haley, Politico reports.

The pro-Santorum Red, White and Blue Fund put out a statement Wednesday urging Gingrich to stand aside, so that the former Pennsylvania senator can stand as the former Massachusetts governor’s sole conservative challenger.

Haley, appearing on Geraldo Rivera’s radio program, would have none of it. But his first response was to take on Romney rather than Santorum. “It’s clear that the voters” aren’t coalescing around the front-runner, Haley said.

“I think he [Romney] should bow out of the race so that conservatives can have a debate” about how to confront Obama, he said. “It’s Mitt Romney who’s screwing up this race, and it’s his establishment support” that is keeping him afloat against the electorate’s wishes.

Haley didn’t exactly blow kisses to Santorum either, Politico reports. He said Santorum  helped “squander” the balanced federal budget achieved when Gingrich was House speaker. Gingrich tops Santorum in appealing to both the hearts and minds of conservative voters, Haley said.