With Mitt Romney campaigning today in North Dakota, Idaho and Washington State, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich shared the spotlight in Georgia, pushing for votes in a state that offers the most delegates on Super Tuesday.
"I have to win Georgia," Gingrich bluntly said about his home state during a morning speech at the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta.
Gingrich peppered his first speech of the day with attacks on the Republican "establishment" and the "elite" media, arguing that he is poised for yet another surge in the GOP race.
"If I win Georgia, the following week we go to Alabama and Mississippi, and I think I win both of those," as Gingrich dismissed any suggestion that he drop out after Super Tuesday.
Newt Gingrich speaking to the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta, Georgia
Focusing almost entirely on the Peach State this week, Gingrich's campaign schedule of late has looked more like someone running for Governor of Georgia, as he will hit Georgia cities like Macon, Savannah, Brunswick, Valdosta and Columbus on Thursday and Friday before going north to Ohio.
Gingrich's strategy of focusing just on Georgia was starkly different than that of Rick Santorum, who dropped into the Peach State for a pair of events a day after hitting Tennessee, Ohio and Michigan in recent days.
"We're the candidate that's got the momentum," Santorum said to a crowd of about one hundred people gathered at the Peachtree DeKalb airport in northeast Atlanta.
Rick Santorum speaking to voters at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday
Santorum's two events in Georgia were only arranged late on Wednesday, an effort to maybe elbow Mitt Romney out of the picture in a state where finishing third could mean losing out on all delegates next week.
We just saw how important the delegate rules can be in Michigan, as Santorum lost the raw vote yet drew even with Romney on the delegate scoreboard.
"We're running a full throttle campaign," Santorum said, ticking off states like Oklahoma, Ohio and Washington State in his remarks.
Santorum's main theme was that the Republican race is narrowing down to just two people - Santorum and Romney; Gingrich of course sees things a bit differently.
"Santorum's a nice guy," Gingrich said before skewering the former Senator by describing him as an "incrementalist," and accusing Romney and Santorum of practicing politics that is nothing more than "baloney."
Gingrich told local business leaders he fully believes he is on the verge of another comeback in this GOP race, one where the former House Speaker has been declared dead a number of times.
The clock is ticking towards Super Tuesday.
