Elections

Gingrich’s latest endorser believes he can still win it

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
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The Republican presidential primary has been pronounced over, but against the odds, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich remains in the race.

Even more improbably, the former speaker is still getting a slow trickle of endorsements from politicians who seem to genuinely believe he has a shot at the White House.

The Daily Caller caught up with the latest politician to endorse Gingrich, Delaware State Senator Dave Lawson, whose endorsement was announced on Wednesday after Rick Santorum dropped out and the vast majority of pundits declared the race at the end.

“The race isn’t over until the votes are counted, and so I don’t believe the race is over,” Lawson told TheDC. “I believe that Speaker Gingrich certainly has a very good crack at this nomination; I believe he certainly has the right attributes to work toward putting this country back on its feet.”

Lawson said he did not decide who to support until recently. If Romney does become the nominee, Lawson said he’ll “absolutely” support him, but until then, he believes Gingrich is the best man for the job.

“With his experience, his knowledge, his commonsense, his very logical approach, I think that he’s something that this country needs,” Lawson said.

“He totally loves this country,” he added. “He believes in it from stem to stern.” (RELATED: Full coverage of the Gingrich campaign)

Asked why he believed Gingrich was still in the race given all of the calls for him to drop out and the fact that even he has admitted that Romney will likely be the nominee, Lawson just laughed.

“Reagan didn’t win anything until he got to North Carolina,” he said. “We’re not to North Carolina yet. And then Reagan ended up taking the presidency, obviously.”

Lawson likened Gingrich’s situation to his own in 2010, when he ousted a 36-year incumbent against the odds.

“We’ve had so many upsets and so many news media election results long before the results were in, and that’s what they’re doing now,” he said. “Everybody’s going, ‘He’s [Romney is] obviously heir-apparent.’ There is no such thing as an heir-apparent in politics.”

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