Victories Tuesday in Alabama and Mississippi by Rick Santorum may have strengthened his momentum, but, reports The New York Times, the future of the former Pennsylvannia senator's campaign may depend on Newt Gingrich.
Whether the former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia stays in the race could determine if Santorum will end up in a two-man race with Mitt Romney. Some pundits have speculated that Gingrich, who finished second in both states, might consider quitting the race.
Gingrich publicly has said he would not drop out and is hinting at an all-out battle at the August GOP convention.
Much hinges on whether Gingrich changes his mind on continuing his campaign “toward Tampa,” where the GOP will stage its convention, or whether remaining primaries will cripple his campaign. As long as Gingrich stays in the race, political observers believe he and Santorum will continue to split the party’s ultra conservative vote.
However, should Gingrich pull out, a two-man race – between Romney and Santorum – will emerge and the primary could turn into a photo finish, decided by a difficult mathematic equation of apportioning delegates.
Romney and party leaders doubt that Santorum could pull off such a finish and secure the 1,144 delegates needed for the nomination. They say Santorum is waging a hopeless war whose only outcome is to drag down the inevitable nominee, Romney. On CNN Tuesday, Romney said Santorum was at the “desperate end of his campaign.”
Santorum, on the other hand, remains undeterred.
“Everybody’s talking about all the math and all the things – that this race is inevitable,” he said. “Well, for someone who thinks this race is inevitable he’s spending a whole lot of money against me.”
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