Too dumb to check: Gingrich camp reportedly weighing idea of "nonaggression pact" with Santorum

C’mon. Really? I know Gingrich was hinting yesterday about teaming up with Santorum to take down Romney, but like everyone else, I thought that was just him spitballing while in the grip of his new anti-Mitt psychosis.

Advertisement

Really?

Two sources confirmed that there have been discussions within Newt Gingrich’s camp about forging a nonaggression pact with Rick Santorum at the debates, though it wasn’t immediately clear whether one had been reached or that the teams had discussed it.

Such a pact would benefit both of them and potentially be problematic for Mitt Romney. However, while it has been discussed as a potential strategy in Gingrichland, one Santorum adviser professed ignorance of it.

As for Santorum and Gingrich, one source described them as liking each other, and expected any negativity to be kept low. But Gingrich’s level of animosity toward Romney “has reached a new level.”

Why would Santorum agree to this? Granted, the paramount goal for everyone right now — except for Perry, who’s focused on Santorum — is to take down Romney ASAP. If he wins New Hampshire and then South Carolina, he’s golden for Florida and Super Tuesday and that’s the end of the race. A sustained, united anti-Romney effort by Newt, Santorum, and Huntsman may be the only way to shrink Mitt’s numbers over the next two weeks. But … that effort’s bound to happen anyway without any informal “pact.” Huntsman’s been throwing roundhouses at Romney (and, sporadically, Ron Paul) for months and Gingrich has now seemingly made it his life’s mission to take revenge on Mitt for sinking him in Iowa. Neither one will stop until he drops out. Nor will Santorum, although he may have to reserve some attacks for Newt if Gingrich’s polling in South Carolina has held up. We actually don’t know what’s going on down south right now because there hasn’t been a poll there since before Christmas, but at last check, Gingrich was above 30 percent and leading the field. Even if his numbers have been cut in half due to his Iowa fade, he’s still in the teens and a threat to Santorum thanks to his southern roots. If it’s Romney 25, Santorum 20, Gingrich 15 five days before the primary, Santorum needs to be able to go after Newt to peel away some of the conservative Not Romney vote. And Newt needs to be able to go after Santorum for the same reason; the difference is, unlike Gingrich, Santorum is still more interested in winning the nomination himself than in ruining Romney’s chances of winning it. If Newt wants a meaningful anti-Romney nonaggression pact, there’s a simple way to do it — drop out, endorse Santorum, and start fundraising for him. Chances of that happening: Near zero but not quite zero, I’d guess, depending upon how well he’s managing his rage right now.

Advertisement

Santorum raised another million today, incidentally, which was enough to cover a large ad buy in South Carolina. Not bad for a, er, “moron.” Exit quotation: “The party establishment does not want this intra-warfare much longer so we can focus on just Obama rather than the oddballs on the stage that can’t even remember the DOE or EPA.”

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement