ANNAPOLIS, MD -- While vowing to stay in the race until the Republican convention, Newt Gingrich admitted Tuesday morning that his campaign “money is very tight” and they are going to have to run a tight ship.
“I have the money to keep going,” Gingrich told reporters outside the Maryland statehouse. “We’re working through what it is going to take to get” to the convention.
The former House speaker, who also visited a famous local diner -- Chick and Ruth’s -- would not say whether he would need to lay off or cut staffers' pay in order to make it to Tampa in August. He did, however, turn down the notion that he cancelled his trip to North Carolina Wednesday for financial reasons.
“The only reason we cancelled North Carolina was to do things in Washington. We had an opportunity to do a couple things in Washington tomorrow and the Washington primary’s next Tuesday, and so that’s why we stayed in Washington,” he said.
The Gingrich campaign also began charging attendees at public events $50 to take a formal picture with the speaker that would be posted on their website -- something that only happened at fundraisers in the past.
The basic message being pushed today while campaigning in Maryland is that the race is far from over in Gingrich’s eyes. Maryland holds its primary on April 3.
“Gov. Romney is the frontrunner but is a long way from a majority,” Gingrich told reporters and promised to throw his support behind the former Massachusetts Governor if he becomes the party’s nominee.
“If he does get -- by the time Utah votes on June 26 -- a majority, I will support him and will be delighted to do everything I can to help defeat Barack Obama,” he said. “If, however, we get to June 26 and Gov. Romney doesn’t have a majority, I think we'll have one of the most interesting conventions in American history.”
The speaker heads to Maryland’s Eastern Shore Tuesday afternoon to speak to students at Salisbury University.
