Why does gingrich stay in the race

By Ros Krasny. House of Representatives speaker is marching on. Surrounded by a tight-knit team that includes his daughters and his third wife, Callista, Gingrich appears to be enjoying the campaign trail despite his dwindling electoral fortunes.

They both do seem to be having a good time. It was his second big defeat in the South in two weeks, underlining the futility of his White House bid. Gingrich represented Georgia in Congress for two decades and built his campaign around expected strong showings in the conservative region. Rick Santorum, with seven state wins in March alone, has taken the mantle of the conservative alternative to front-runner Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts.

Yet Gingrich - who won only 16 percent support in Louisiana, one of the states he was supposed to do well in - has vowed to stay in the race until the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida, in August.

Private jets, staff and other costs have to be met from the candidate's own campaign funds. Gingrich's press spokesman, RC Hammond, responding to press inquiries about charging for photographs, replied in an email: "We are trying out a new tactic and asking our supporters at our rallies for a nominal donation.

And guess what? It's working. Gingrich's team said they did not charge people to take pictures with the candidate using their own cameras, only for more formal photographs. He denied he was staying in the race to take revenge on Romney, who squashed Gingrich with a fierce and expensive ad blitz in Florida. Why do you guys try to reduce leading America to the smallest and pettiest and most personal questions?

It's about representing a set of ideas and a set of values that are really important," Gingrich said. This article is more than 9 years old. Gingrich remains defiant and says he is downsizing in order to stay in the race until Republican convention in Tampa in August. Newt Gingrich said: 'You have to respond to reality, and we're doing the appropriate things to be able to campaign. Reuse this content. Check out ABC's latest delegate scorecard.

Everyone in the Republican establishment wants Romney and they'd like everyone else to go home. They'd like to have a coronation but that's not how this is done. An open convention would occur if no candidate has a majority 1, delegates needed to clinch the nomination by the time the last primary rolls around in June. Delegates and party elders would then settle on a nominee in August at the Republican convention in Tampa. A larger percentage would go to Santorum, but at least some goes to Romney, allowing him to accumulate more delegates; and,.