Romney rivals reject his call to quit race

TOPEKA, Kan., March 8 (UPI) -- Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul dismissed Mitt Romney's call to quit the Republican U.S. presidential race, with Santorum terming it bullying.

"Super Tuesday dramatically reduced the likelihood that any of Gov. Romney's opponents can obtain the Republican nomination," Romney political director Rich Beeson wrote in a memo to reporters after the former Massachusetts governor won six of 10 states on Super Tuesday.

"As Gov. Romney's opponents attempt to ignore the basic principles of math, the only person's odds of winning they are increasing are President Obama's," he wrote.

Santorum -- who won three states and lost Ohio to Romney by 1 percentage point -- rejected the Romney camp call to quit.

"What won't they resort to, to try to bully their way through this race?" Santorum told a crowd Wednesday in Lenexa, Kan. Kansas is to hold its Republican caucuses Saturday.

"If the governor thinks he's now ordained by God to win, then let's just have it out," Santorum said.

But Santorum used a twist on the same narrow-the-playing-field tactic later, calling on Mississippi Republicans to drive Gingrich out of the race during their primary Tuesday by denying him a Deep South primary victory the former House speaker needs to revive his campaign.

"If we win Mississippi, this will be a two-person race, and if this is a two-person race, we will nominate a conservative as president of the United States," the former senator from Pennsylvania said.

Gingrich, the former House speaker who had hoped to carry Oklahoma and Tennessee but settled for just his political home state of Georgia, scaled back his campaign Wednesday, abandoning plans for a six-stop swing across Kansas.

He instead planned to campaign solely in Mississippi and Alabama in an effort to score a string of Southern victories.

But he defended his decision to stay in the race, saying Romney wouldn't win because he's not far enough to the right.

"I believe it is going to be impossible for a moderate to win the general election," Gingrich told supporters in Montgomery, Ala. "We tried it in 1996 and it didn't work. We tried it in 2008 and it didn't work."

Paul, the Texas congressman who did surprisingly well in a losing effort in Virginia, garnering 40 percent of the vote but lost in North Dakota where he campaigned hard, said he wasn't quitting either.

His campaign team said his fight could go to the August Republican National Convention because it was possible no GOP hopeful would holding the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination.

Paul campaign Chairman Jesse Benton told The Wall Street Journal the Paul camp saw the ensuing floor fight as turning to him.

"A brokered convention is the most favorable situation for Ron winning the nomination," Benton said.

Romney plans to join his opponents in the South Thursday, with stops in Alabama and Mississippi.