Canada: Former candidate Cain endorses former rival Gingrich

The Globe and Mail

Herman Cain backs Newt Gingrich's presidential bid
By Sam Youngman and Ros Krasny

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Newt Gingrich received the endorsement of former rival Herman Cain on Saturday and vowed to fight until the end no matter what happens in Florida’s upcoming primary vote.

Mr. Cain, who ended his presidential campaign in December under the weight of sexual harassment allegations, made the endorsement at an event with Gingrich in West Palm Beach. It is unclear how much impact it will have for Mr. Gingrich in Florida, which has been trending toward rival Mitt Romney ahead of the state’s vote on Tuesday.

“I hereby officially and enthusiastically endorse Newt Gingrich for president of the United States,” Mr. Cain said.

Mr. Romney, already confident after strong performances in two Florida debates, is gaining ground over Mr. Gingrich for the nomination to take on Democratic President Barack Obama in the Nov. 6 election.

Mr. Cain said Mr. Gingrich has been going through a “sausage grinder” in his battle for the Republican nomination.

The former pizza magnate has been seeking to remain in the public eye after his presidential drive stalled out. Recently he had declared he would endorse “the people.” Both Mr. Cain and Mr. Gingrich are from Georgia.

Just three days ahead of a pivotal primary race that could determine who has the momentum to win the Republican state-by-state nominating battle, Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Romney spent the day traveling around Florida in a search for undecided voters.

A Reuters/Ipsos online poll released on Saturday showed Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts and off-and-on Republican front-runner, with an 11 percentage point lead over Mr. Gingrich, up from 8 points a day earlier.

Mr. Romney drew support of 43 per cent of likely voters in Florida’s Jan. 31 primary and Mr. Gingrich 32 percent. That compared with a 41 per cent to 33 per cent showing in the online tracking poll on Friday.

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