2012 Decoded

Newt Gingrich has given himself a deadline to catch up with Mitt Romney in the delegate count for the Republican presidential nomination. But he's not going to fulfill what he calls Romney's "greatest fantasy" by getting out of the race anytime soon. He said he expects to be at parity with Romney by the April 3 Texas primary and "we will go to Tampa," site of the GOP convention this summer.

Nor is Gingrich going to fulfill what's no doubt another Romney fantasy -- going positive. There had been reports suggesting he would, until Gingrich cleared that up at the caucus night press conference he held in Las Vegas instead of a rally. "I stayed relentlessly positive in Iowa and I lost 22 points," he said.

The dismissal of the good-cheer strategy came amid the customary Gingrich assault on Romney and President Obama. He labeled them "George Soros-approved candidates" and added for good measure that Romney was "pro-abortion, pro-gun control, pro-tax increase," a lousy job creator, indifferent toward the poor, and a purveyor of falsehoods. As for Obama, his administration has declared war on religion, Gingrich said, and is pursuing a "radical secular ideology.

Votes were still being counted in Nevada as Gingrich spoke, and Romney was headed for his expected landslide win. Gingrich was fighting it out with Ron Paul for a distant second place, but he already seemed to have moved on. He said Nevada was heavily Mormon and one of Romney's best states, and said he had been out-spent five-to-one. His schedule for the next couple of weeks includes Colorado, Minnesota, Ohio and California.