Gingrich: Santorum, Perry Should Drop Out

Newt Gingrich must be reading all those positive reviews from last night's debate: He said today it would be a swell idea if the two Ricks dropped out and backed him, reports CNN. "From the standpoint of the conservative movement, consolidating into a Gingrich candidacy would in fact virtually guarantee a victory on Saturday," Gingrich said of the South Carolina primary. "And I'd be delighted if either Perry or Santorum wanted to do that."

Gingrich said he's the "only conservative" with a chance of beating Mitt Romney, which prompted this from Santorum: "I'm a friend of Newt's, he's a good man, but the idea that someone who is 0 and 2 in races is that I am hurting him. Yeah I'm hurting him. I'm beating him. That's the difference." The Burns & Haberman blog at Politico notes that conservative leaders agree it makes sense for the anti-Romneys to unite behind a single candidate. Problem is, they think it should be Santorum. (More Newt Gingrich 2012 stories.)