Newt Gingrich has stayed in the race even after losing in Mississippi and Alabama. Winning in these two states might have allowed him to claim the title of “southern candidate” or some such, but it was apparently not meant to be. So after 2 victories in 26 states, what is Gingrich other than a potential spoiler in the race? It seemed that his continued presence siphoned conservative votes from Rick Santorum, thus helping Mitt Romney, but I read something recently that put a different spin on things.
What if any future delegates Gingrich wins would have split 90/10 between Santorum and Romney? You would naturally conclude that losing all those potential delegates hurts Santorum and makes him weaker against Romney. Advantage Romney. But what if the few who would have gone to Romney were just enough to give him a majority of delegates at the Republican National Convention? If Romney falls short then the Convention has to sort things out, and it opens a window of opportunity for Santorum.
Of course, if Romney walks into the RNC with, say, 48% of the necessary votes, and Santorum only has, like, 30%, it seems unlikely that Santorum would be able to get enough of the uncommitted delegates to turn the tide. Interesting times.
Re: the “John Carter” movie–I really enjoyed it. I heard that the original story served as an inspiration for “Star Wars.” I have no idea if that is true, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was. The plot was interesting, the characters had some depth–it was easy to care about them, and the action was great. The commercials haven’t really done it justice, but other than that, I’m not sure what the critics want.
Two of my books are rushing ever closer to availability. I should receive some author copies of my sci-fi action novel Double Crossed this week. Also this week my (and my co-author Jason Edwards’) book of humorous yet practical advice book, Ask the Professor: What Freshmen need to Know 2.0, should go off to the printer.