WASHINGTON - Republican front-runner Mitt Romney was coasting to victory on Tuesday night in five state primaries -- a rout that appeared to be finally prompting Newt Gingrich to ponder whether it's time to drop out of the race.
An uncharacteristically realistic Gingrich said earlier this week that his campaign would need "to take a deep look at what we are doing" if the results of Tuesday's primaries were dismal.
He had hoped to win Delaware, a state where he campaigned heavily. But Romney triumphed in Delaware, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and was well on track to win New York and Rhode Island too.
As primary day dawned, Gingrich had taken on a more familiar combative tone, declining to answer questions about whether he'd drop out soon.
Indeed, following his introspective remarks to NBC News on Monday, Gingrich suggested he was sticking to the original plan: to remain in the race until the party convention in Florida in August.
"We are going to go to Tampa fighting for an American energy independence plan," Gingrich told a crowd of supporters in North Carolina.
Earlier Tuesday, Gingrich also aligned himself with anti-same-sex marriage forces in North Carolina. A measure to ban same-sex marriage is also on the ballot on May 8, the same day as the Republican state primary.
Gingrich handily won South Carolina in January, and believes he has a chance of victory in the so-called Tar Heel State too. His campaign released a video on Tuesday morning of Gingrich outlining his position on the same-sex marriage ban.
"Marriage between a man and a woman is at the heart of our civilization," says Gingrich, who left two wives for other women and is now married to his third.
"It's a belief that is now under attack, yet it's at the very core of defining who we are. This is your chance to turn out and vote and vote for preserving America, and to vote for preserving a very basic institution."
Romney, meantime, delivered a rousing election speech on Tuesday night in New Hampshire, where the former Massachusetts governor won his first primary in January.
"We believe in America," he said to cheers. "We believe in ourselves. Our greatest day is ahead. We are, after all, Americans."
Gingrich was critical of Romney's decision to deliver such an address, which at various points had the ring of an unofficial nomination acceptance speech, since several states have yet to hold primaries.
"I think it's a very substantial mistake for Gov. Romney to give a general election speech tonight in New Hampshire," Gingrich said in North Carolina. "He is not the nominee. I think it's a little insulting to people in these states."
Gingrich had been hoping for a "bounce" from Delaware that might prompt donors to take another look at him. His campaign is currently more than US$4 million in debt, and even his biggest benefactor, Sheldon Adelson, has essentially told him to face reality.
"Gov. Romney is clearly the front-runner, but that doesn't mean he is inevitable," Gingrich said in Delaware on Monday.
"It is very dangerous for front-runners to start behaving like they are inevitable because the voters might decide that's not so true."
Romney's big night on Tuesday brings him ever closer to the 1,144 delegates he needs to seal the nomination.
Gingrich has said for months that his goal is to prevent Romney from getting to 1,144, and then win the nomination himself at a brokered convention.
He's never been able to explain, however, why delegates would flock to him in such an unlikely scenario given they've been ambivalent about him throughout primary season. He's won only two of 43 contests -- Georgia and South Carolina.
Gingrich -- who considers himself the intellectual in the Republican field that now includes just him, Romney, and libertarian Ron Paul -- has said repeatedly that he has the upper hand over his rivals because he'd be able to out-debate U.S. President Barack Obama in a general election campaign.
