Newt's Future-- Not The White House

By now we've all read how what's left of Gingrich's moribund "campaign" is "operating" on a shoestring and that he's run up around $4.5 million in campaign debts, which he expects the cash-rich Romney campaign to repay for him. In return, Gingrich is ready to offer himself (and presumably the much-disliked Callista) as Romney surrogates in the fall campaign against the president. Would Romney even want him spouting off on his behalf? How has roping in Trump worked out for him? To date, Gingrich's greatest contribution to the presidential campaign-- even more than his moon colonies-- has been the King Of Bain film When Romney Came To Town (below).

Newt Gingrich acknowledged Sunday that his campaign is "operating on a shoestring," as he signaled he is preparing to transition from candidate to surrogate in anticipation of Mitt Romney winning the nomination.

While not throwing in the towel just yet, the former House speaker spoke frequently in past tense about his presidential bid in an interview on Fox News Sunday. He said he wants to continue to try and influence the party platform, but said he's already discussed with the Republican National Committee how he can best help the nominee defeat President Obama if it's not him.

Romney, he said, "is far and away the most likely" nominee. Looking back on the race, Gingrich said he has "no regrets"-- he became visibly emotional as he discussed on Easter Sunday how his faith helped him through the campaign.

"I'm glad I did this," Gingrich said of his decision to run, calling it "the right thing for me to do."

Romney probably doesn't feel quite as glad. Although the primary was supposed to get him ready to face Obama, things have gone poorly for him. The more voters-- especially normal, non-Republicans-- saw Romney and his co-combatants in action, the better a second Obama term seemed to them. Only a bit over a third of voters see Romney in a favorable light. His negatives outweigh his positives, in great part due to his need to move far to the right of his comfort zone in order to appeal to Foxified GOP primary voters, most of whom have lost their minds from too many hours of Hate Talk Radio.

But even as he was, in effect, conceding to Romney and offering his support, he couldn't help clinging to the dream.

"I do think there's a desire for a more idea-oriented Republican Party," Gingrich said.

Gingrich said he's seeing a "great response" in the upcoming primaries for Delaware and North Carolina, and will "see what happens" in those two states. Despite his comments Sunday, the candidate had recently told the Washington Post that "nothing" could get him out of the race quite yet.

And sure enough, Monday found him campaigning in North Carolina. Maybe he's just angling for a job in a mythical Romney administration. And maybe Romney would even be willing to send him off to represent the country in... Mali perhaps. Or some island somewhere.