Pressure Increasing for Newt Gingrich to Step Aside in GOP Race

At the clip is Rick Santorum campaign advisor John Brabender urging conservatives to unite behind one conservative candidate to deny Mitt Romney the nomination.

And here's this, at Telegraph UK, "US election 2012: Newt Gingrich under renewed pressure to drop out":

Newt Gingrich was under renewed pressure to drop out and back Rick Santorum for the US presidency, after the former Pennsylvania senator claimed a double victory in the Deep South.

The former House Speaker was urged to encourage Right-wing Republicans to unite behind Mr Santorum, who won Alabama and Mississippi on Tuesday night, and halt the slow march to victory by Mitt Romney, the relative moderate ex-Massachusetts governor, in the race to be Barack Obama's opponent in November's election.

"The time is now for conservatives to pull together," Mr Santorum told jubilant supporters at a rally in Louisiana. He later told an interviewer that Mr Gingrich – who knocked Mr Romney into third place in both southern primaries – was no longer "in the mix for getting the nomination".

Party strategists said the time had come to allow Mr Santorum to take on Mr Romney alone. "Gingrich's final act could be king maker by getting out and endorsing," Erick Erickson, a leading Republican commentator, said on his blog.

Polls indicate that Mr Santorum, an evangelical Catholic and former senator for Pennsylvania, would collect a majority of Mr Gingrich's supporters, many of whom dislike Mr Romney for his past stances on abortion and gay rights in liberal-leaning Massachusetts.

"Newt had a great run but Santorum has earned a one-on-one shot with Romney," Keith Appell, a veteran Republican operative, told The Daily Telegraph. "Santorum so exceeded expectations in the South that his campaign will now be energised with money and enthusiasm".

If you're interested, Erickson's got a thread at Memeorandum: "Not Closing the Deal."

But don't miss Robert Stacy McCain either way, "Memo From the National Affairs Desk: Mathematical Impossibilities Happen."

BONUS: From Chris Cillizza, "5 lessons learned from the Alabama and Mississippi primaries":

Regardless of whether Newt knows it or not, his chances of remaining a major player in this race effectively ended with his second place finishes in Mississippi and Alabama. Prominent conservatives have already begun to go public urging him to leave the race and that drumbeat will only grow louder if he refuses.