Gingrich: ‘It’s silly’ to say GOP race down to Romney, Perry

Republican presidential candidate New Gingrich said Friday that “it’s silly” to characterize the GOP race as a two-person affair, arguing that the contest remains “still a very, very wide open race.”

“There have been no votes taken by the American people. Newspaper reporters and TV reporters are not the American people,” Gingrich said on Fox News. “The fact is it is more convenient to narrow it down, it makes it easier to cover but it’s not factually correct.”

The former Speaker of the House argued that so-called second-tier candidates could still surge to the forefront.

“Is one of them potentially a nominee? Yes. Is it equally possible that a third candidate, maybe Newt Gingrich, maybe somebody else is going to get past them? Yes. So this is still a very, very wide open race,” he said.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) also dismissed the idea of the top two candidates being set in stone during the Republican debate Thursday night.

“Right now, I’m going to … just work very hard, and make sure that I stay in the top tier and then eventually be one of the top two contenders,” Paul said.

Gingrich said early polling is a premature measure for who the eventual nominee will be.

“At this point in 2007, Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson were the Republican front-runners,” Gingrich said. “So for the news media to decide they think they are going to pick who’s going to be able to take advantage of things, I think is pretty foolish.”

Both Gingrich and Paul cited polls in which they have edged into the top three in key primary states: Gingrich is polling well in Florida, while Paul is gaining traction in New Hampshire.

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