I'm still #withNewt

(I apologize deeply for the long gap in between posts, but aside from work (including on Newt's campaign) and school, my family has had some medical issues the last few months, which has taken away free time.)

I've been meaning to write a post like this for a while now, and nothing that happened Tuesday night changes my feelings.

I'm still, to use the popular Twitter hashtag, #withNewt.

I'm still standing with him because he's the best candidate. He's not tons more conservative than Rick Santorum, but in terms of vision and having the ability to marshal a conservative agenda through Congress, he's worlds above the former Pennsylvania senator.

Newt is the only one who knows what needs to be done to drastically change Washington D.C. -- and he's the only one who knows how to implement the changes.

But I have said essentially the same thing for over a year now on this blog.

Now to the state of the GOP nominating race. Yes, Newt trails in delegates, but the laughable delegate projections that have Santorum beating him by a hundred or more are just that -- laughable.

Many of those delegates are in no way bound to vote for him on the first round of voting at the GOP convention.

So the actual, binding margin between him and Newt is rather small.

And while Romney has many more delegates than either Santorum or Newt, the math is not clear as to how he can get to 1,144 delegates before the convention.

Newt's political director, Martin Baker, and senior adviser Randy Evans released a memo on Tuesday in which they argue that the race is just nearing halftime. (Louisiana, which will vote on the 24th of this month, is technically halftime.)

I encourage you to read it, but the gist is that the final weeks of the campaign -- when states are winner-take-all -- will largely determine the race.

They don't explicitly state it, but my thinking is that whoever wins, for example, Texas and California (if it's the same candidate, that is) will pick up many of the non-binding delegates and possibly secure the nomination.

The odds may be a little longer for Newt than they were the few days after South Carolina, but I still stand with him because he's, by far, the best candidate -- and not just of this cycle. He's the best candidate we've had since Reagan.

I stood beside him after the Meet the Press interview back almost 10 months ago. In fact, it was after this interview that I first contacted the campaign to see what I could do.

I stood beside him after much of his national staff -- and the whole Iowa team -- quit on June 9 of last year. I will admit, however, that there were a few seconds of serious doubt about his viability.

I was still there when two of his finance team quit weeks after that. I was literally with Newt the day the fundraising report came out on July 15 that showed the campaign in debt and that fundraising dried up after the Meet the Press interview.

I wrote about that weekend with Newt, his press secretary R.C. Hammond, and campaign manager Michael Krull here and here.

I stood with Newt through all that -- and more -- because I knew he was the one with a big vision for the country and the ability to implement that vision. He still is the only candidate with those qualities, so I still stand with him.

Sorry again for the gap between posts, but I hope to post at least one piece daily from now on, if not more.

Thanks for reading and being great supporters.