Another x-factor in the potential success of Gingrich's continued candidacy is whether or not former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum drops out in the coming weeks. The two men are splitting the conservative, anti-Romney vote, according to polling data.
"I don't know how long he'll want to continue; again, it depends on the money and what percentage of the vote he gets in the various contests," Sabato says of Santorum. "Nobody wants to be humiliated. If they dwindle down to those single digits, they're going to want to get out."
[Mitt Romney Works Gingrich, Obama in Florida.]
Hayes adds that with the recent health scare regarding his 3-year-old daughter, Bella, who has a rare genetic disorder, Santorum may be forced to make a decision not based on the politics.
"It's possible that even if Santorum really doesn't want to drop out he may use that as an opportunity to do so," he says. "He can say, look I'm still committed to fighting for these issues that I care about but my family comes first."
Sabato, author of the political prognosticating website 'Sabato's Crystal Ball' predicts that no matter what each of the candidates' decide, Romney's chances of winning the GOP nomination are between 80 percent and 90 percent.
"But that doesn't mean that he gets the nomination in the way he'd like to receive it," he says. "You never know how nasty a convention might turn out to be."
Email: rmetzler@usnews.com
Twitter: @rebekahmetzler
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Dan Johnson of AZ 3:27PM February 01, 2012
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