Meghan McCain, daughter of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), offered her latest analysis of the GOP presidential primary on Tuesday, writing in a column for The Daily Beast that Newt Gingrich should accept a potential loss in the Florida primary as the end of his 2012 campaign.
McCain, who, like her father, has announced her support for Mitt Romney, has never shied away from expressing her opposition to Gingrich, both personally and politically. In the past she's called his presidential run a "vanity project" and his third wife, Callista, "a mistress." On Tuesday, she gave similar criticism, painting Gingrich as a self-centered hypocrite who, by staying in the race after Florida, would be showing a willingness to divide the party to protect his own ego.
McCain writes:
If Gingrich loses Florida and doesn't concede sometime soon after, he doesn't get to publicly cry that he is selfless and fighting for the Reagan Republicans and the honor of the party. He doesn't get to act like he is fighting some noble cause. Gingrich was never meant to make it this far. I personally never believed he was entirely serious about running until he started winning. He mounted a surprisingly lengthy campaign, but did he really expect to emerge as the Republican nominee? After today, what scenario can he logically present that leads him on a path to beating Romney and becoming the GOP nominee?Tonight is really a time for him to start thinking of the greater good of the party and maybe start petitioning for a position in Romney's cabinet. At the end of the day, all that matters is what Republican voters want. There is no prize for second place. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Gingrich will leave the Republican race with an honorable exit. In classic Gingrich fashion, he's probably going to make sure he wreaks as much havoc and drama as possible.
Gingrich continues to trail Romney in Florida by all polling measures on Tuesday, as voters head to the polls. While Gingrich remains optimistic that he'll perform well in the state, the primary format is winner-take-all, meaning that the eventual victor -- likely Romney -- will take all of Florida's delegates.
If Florida plays out as predicted, Romney, who is favored in many of the upcoming primary contests, will be well-suited to go on and win the Republican nomination. But regardless of the outcome, Gingrich has vowed to take his campaign all the way to the Republican convention, and as The Huffington Post's Sam Stein reported this week, it's entirely possible that the former House speaker isn't bluffing.
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Loading comments… 100% precincts reporting
| Candidate | Votes | Pct. | Del. |
|---|---|---|---|
 Romney |
775,014 | 46.4% | 50 |
 Gingrich |
533,117 | 31.9% | |
 Santorum |
222,799 | 13.3% | |
 Paul |
117,104 | 7.0% | |
 Others |
21,613 | 1.3% |
50 delegates — out of 2,286 — are at stake. All 50 will go to the statewide winner.
| Romney | Santorum | Gingrich | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delegates | 1.19 Thousand | 265 | 138 | |
| Fundraising | $76 M | $16 M | $21 M | |
| Intrade | $9.60 | $0.28 | $0.02 | |
| 530 K | 200 K | 1.5 M |
Posted: 01/31/12 01:28 PM ET