Newt does think in big historic terms and thinks of himself

Former President George H.W. Bush burberry ties will make it official Thursday, formally endorsing Mitt Romney for president in a ceremony at his Houston office.

"Mitt will drop by and visit, and Mrs. Bush will join them," said Bush chief of staff Jean Becker. "Then (Bush) would like to make it official."

Former first lady Barbara Bush has formally backed Romney and recorded automated telephone calls for him earlier this month in Ohio and burberry outlet Vermont.

Their son, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, endorsed Romney last week after his victory in the Illinois primary. Another son, former President George W. Bush, has not expressed a preference in the presidential primary.

The elder Bush signaled his support for the former Massachusetts governor in December in an interview with the Houston Chronicle, calling Romney "the best choice for us," but he held off making a formal endorsement until now. Becker said Bush always had been a Romney supporter, but waited to make an endorsement out of respect for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who also was seeking the Republican presidential nomination.

'A big endorsement'

Bush's endorsement is another sign that the Republican establishment is uniting behind Romney and pressuring his competitors to quit the race.

"He believes it's time for this phase of burberry shoes for men the campaign to reach a conclusion and get on with regaining the White House," said Jim McGrath, an aide to the former president.

So far, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have resisted pressure to withdraw, although Gingrich announced this week that he is scaling back his campaign.

"Obviously, it's a big endorsement," said Jared Woodfill, the Harris County Republican Party chairman, "but I haven't seen an orchestrated effort by the so-called establishment to push these people out. From a local perspective, I want these people to stay in through our May 29 primary. That helps us turn people out in November."

Romney made appearances in the Dallas-Fort Worth area Wednesday and was scheduled to make appearances in San Antonio and Houston on Thursday. After meeting with the Bushes, he will attend a campaign event Ray ban sunglasses at the Hotel St. Regis.

Instead of bowing out after a string of losses, the former House Speaker has decided to cap off a historic career by spending the final weeks of the campaign in a sort of political purgatory — he’ll remain in the race, but as something less than a full-fledged candidate.

Even Gingrich’s top super PAC benefactor, Oakley sunglasses casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, said Wednesday that the candidate is “at the end of his line.”

Rather than traveling state-to-state in an attempt to win presidential primaries and caucuses, the storied politician who liberated the House of Representatives from nearly a half-century of Democratic control will devote his time to cutting cheap web videos and wooing unbound delegates more interested in Lincoln Day Dinner commitments than big ideas. And he’ll hustle whatever media attention is available to a broke candidate whose stated goal is to play in a convention he can’t be burberry kids sale nominated in without a majority of delegates from three more states.

Gingrich’s loyal cadre of advisers portrays his decision to forge ahead as what could be called the Kris Kristofferson approach: “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose,” as the famous lyric goes.

But in paring back staff and time on the campaign trail to stanch his debt, an authentically transformational figure who’s sought to play on history’s stage since a childhood visit to Verdun has exposed himself to ridicule.

“A lot of us who were around him before and didn’t think this was a good idea from the beginning were worried this was the way it was going to end,” said Rich Galen, a top Gingrich aide in the 1990s. “He’s in danger I think of becoming a laughingstock.”

It didn’t have to end this way. Cartier eyeglasses sale, cheap cartier sunglasses for men. Gingrich could have withdrawn graciously after twice proving his resilience and relevance in a race where few gave him much of a chance at being a contender, let alone winning the nomination. But those who know Newton Leroy Gingrich well say that to think he’d retreat quietly to McLean as a lion in winter, is to fundamentally misunderstand the man. The same forces that propelled him to attempt a comeback at this late moment in his career is what keeps him in a race he almost certainly can’t win.

“Newt does think in big historic terms and thinks of himself as big, historic player,” explained former Rep. Vin Weber, a close louis vuitton women shoes friend of Gingrich in the House who now backs Mitt Romney. “The notion that he’s going to withdraw and just go away is unthinkable. He’s still looking for drama. He’s imagining the first seriously contested convention in our lifetimes.”