It’s a nice idea, but .. I really doubt either ego could sustain the thought of being second banana. I’ll rate this as similar to the hopes that Gingrich would announce support for Perry early on.

Mew

…it balances north/south, evangelical/apologia, youth/elder-statesman, etc.

They could demonstrate how they could work as a co-presidency, as they “agree to disagree” and “agree to agree” over subsequent months…and years.

Depending on the rules in a particular state, the two conservatives each with 25% of the vote may watch Liberal Mitt take all or most of the delegates with 30%. (I don’t know how to categorize Paul). If we had preference voting, or strictly proportional delegate allocation, your idea might work better.

I think Newt is the smarter man with the better ideas, but Santorum is more electable. Santorum’s main electoral drawback, his extreme abortion position, is probably less important to women voters than Newt’s marital history.

Nt

Could this maybe be a desirable result of a brokered convention? However the most attractive thing proposed in this diary is the concept of Romney suspended…forever!

I am bummed cause I see no candidate left to get behind. That is what bothered me about Gov Perry’s speech..he said we shouldn’t settle for lukewarm. Well all that is left is lukewarm or yuck. This is not good.

but: Newt proposed a truce between he and Santorum and Santorum blew him off, attacking him and Romney at every opportunity. Those were painful debates to see the Romney destructive machine and Santorum going after Newt, with much being fabrication or half truths.

Santorum is a definite Social Conservative, Newt is a fiscal conservative, and has become something of a social conservative. Romney is an opportunist at best, reading the wind to see which way it blows, telling us what he thinks we want to hear.

Santorum, could take place 2 and whip Joe Biden in VP debates, and Newt could whip BHO in the Presidential but I cannot see these two men reconciling anytime soon, even though it would be good for both the party and the country.

We will see, I hope and pray for some kind of a rapprochment between the two, but am not sure that it will happen. Both of them believe they are the savior of the country, as has been said by someone else about Obama, neither can take the place of Jesus.

in that Newt has a problem ‘working with’ people. He is like a loose cannon at times and unpredictable. Even if Santorum were the top gun, he would never know what Newt AND Callista would be up to.

and teaching an old dog new tricks isn’t easy.

So the problem right now is three fatally-flawed candidates, and the way we’re going to win anyway is by torpedoing the most flawed one by putting the other two still pretty majorly flawed ones on the same ticket together?? We all seem to be running around with our hair on fire because we don’t think any of Romney/Rubio, Gingrich/Rubio, or Santorum/Rubio will be able to beat BHO, so the solution is to go with Gingrich/Santorum so that at least the top of the ticket isn’t Romney?? That doesn’t make any sense…

…has been provided in today’s “Political Journal”:

A Gingrich-Santorum Alliance?

Almost all polls show that Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are chasing after the same conservative GOP primary voters. Mr. Santorum may not be able to beat front-runner Mitt Romney with Mr. Gingrich in the race, but in a two-man contest his prospects improve markedly. Could a deal be in the making between Messrs. Santorum and Gingrich to deny Mr. Romney the nomination?

It’s too early to count out the former House speaker, but even Mr. Gingrich acknowledges that he has to win Georgia and probably one or two other southern states to carry on. Super Tuesday could be his last hoorah. If Mr. Gingrich drops out, he will almost certainly throw his support behind Mr. Santorum. The two are friendly from the days when they served in the House together. More importantly, there is no love lost between Mr. Romney and Mr. Gingrich, who maintains that Mr. Romney’s political attacks on him crossed a line.

When I ask a senior Santorum adviser about an alliance, he whispers that Mr. Santorum’s odds go way up with Mr. Gingrich out. But he also emphasizes that Mr. Santorum has avoided asking the former speaker to quit the race.

Even without Mr. Gingrich in the race, Mitt Romney is still a prohibitive favorite. But if Mr. Santorum can stitch together a coalition of Gingrich supporters in the South with his own culturally conservative and blue collar voters in Midwestern states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, this race could go on for months.

The remaining question in this GOP primary is whether the “anybody but Romney” forces coalesced around one candidate are large enough to deny the former Massachusetts governor the nomination.

– Stephen Moore

…regarding EE’s Horserace:

http://www.redstate.com/erick/2012/03/02/the-horserace-for-march-2-2012/

*

Remember a few concepts, each of which is dramatized [for good or for bad or for indifferent/ugly] in today’s WSJ.

1. Andrew ["he made it cool to be conservative" Breitbart reminds us of the need to unite against BHO; amazingly, the "Remembrances" piece in the WSJ was buried @ the bottom of page 5.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203753704577255163292926398.html#mod=djempersonal

2. Perry continues to support The Newt, and the best way to rephrase the challenge is to perceive non-contenders as potential POTUS-nominees in 2020 [because we should envision re-election of whichever Republican is nominated this year]; although favored to win in his home-state, thinly-veiled hit-pieces abound ["Strong Views of Gingrich in District He Represented"] with this one ending with a “balanced” conclusion [a husband/wife supporting Romney/anyone].

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203960804577241762170024558.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_6

3. Many unifying themes exist—and must be emphasized—as has been emphasized by The Newt; of course, this essay’s code ominously suggests that it may be necessary for his GOP-competitors to champion his ideas ["Gingrich's Energy Charge"].

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970203986604577255761338883798.html?mod=djempersonal

The bottom-line, here, is that 2011?s Gathering will be a hard-act to follow, recalling the energy of Perry’s announcement [and subsequent abandonment]…but it is vital to support the eventual nominee, particularly if it is Perry’s preference, The Newt.

*

Lest there be any ambiguity…

…the good/bad/indifferent-ugly treatment of The Newt [and a man who embodied his energies] by the WSJ should not be lost among those who are being distracted by the “cinema” of the incessant discussion of a 2-man race.

The Newt remains the “Main St.” guy [a mantle inherited from Perry] who contrasts with “Wall St. Mitt” and “Main St. BHO.” Even a few minutes ago, Chris Wallace noted a drop in support for Santoroum [upper 20%], as The Newt rises [to~20%]. So, let’s just give it time, allow The Newt to win the biggest prize on Super Tuesday, build momentum the following week, and [recognizing rhetorical expertise, to be displayed again on FNC tomorrow-p.m.] displace Santorum as the anti-Romney.

It is almost too late for Mitt to begin to gesture to signal interest in possibly dialoguing someday with the key-triumvitate of the revitalized GOP: the Evangelicals, the Constitutional Conservatives, the TEA [“Taxed Enough Already”] Party Movement activists.

Candidly, I’m amazed that Mitt has chosen to try to demonstrate the ability to gain the nomination by ignoring the base—instead incessantly going-negative against his competitors—and let’s see how Sarah frames it tonight on FNC [probably continuing to telegraph support for The Newt]. Meanwhile, the Seattle Times just “endorsed” Mitt as the “default-choice.”

”Plus ça change, plus c’est la meme chose.”
[''The more things change, the more they stay the same.'']