Looks like Republicans are left with Romney vs. Gingrich

Now that Herman Cain has withdrawn and is no longer the flavor of the day, what happens with the remaining Republican candidates for president as voters prepare to make choices next month in the first caucuses and primaries?

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has to be concerned. As this is written, eight out of 10 GOP voters still refuse to ask him to the prom -- and he is still waiting. In spite of the fact that establishment Republicans want to cram him down the throats of Republican voters, Romney continues to wait for the "ask."

When former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty dropped out and endorsed Romney, Pawlenty's supporters said "no." When Republican darling, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, decided not to run and endorsed Romney, Christie's supporters said "no." Now that the Cain train has ground to a halt, most Cain backers appear to have shifted to former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Romney advisers have to be scratching their heads wondering why it is that he has had two well-funded, well-organized campaigns yet is only garnering 20 to 23 percent of the vote.

Most talking heads and establishment Republicans want GOP voters to invite the former Massachusetts governor to the big dance next November. But needless to say, GOP voters have continually shown over the last year that they have their own ideas. And with less than a month to the first Iowa caucus, most are not favoring Mitt Romney.

Gingrich has shown rising and impressive strength in the polls of late. Even his political enemies concede he is extremely smart and well versed on domestic and foreign policy issues. Gingrich's TV debate performances, demonstrating his impressive knowledge, have won him widespread recognition, and his ability to crystallize important issues also is impressive.

Although the one-time college professor left Congress in 1998, Gingrich remains a conservative hero to millions for his bold strategy and leadership in 1994 in developing and pushing the "Contract with America" -- a revolution which led to Republicans taking control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years and propelled his ascension as speaker. Say what you will about some controversial Gingrich positions in recent years, he remains respected by many for that historic victory. And Gingrich rightly notes that he was a "Reaganite" -- especially working with the nation's popular 40th president on tax cuts and job creation -- long before many Republicans cloaked themselves in the Reagan mantle.

Is the GOP contest coming down to just Gingrich and Romney? Is it conceivable that Rep. Michele Bachmann or former Sen. Rick Santorum could knock Gingrich off his tenuous perch as the "non-Romney candidate"? Bachmann doesn't seem to be gaining traction. Santorum has virtually lived in Iowa for months, so there's an outside chance he could gain if Gingrich stumbles verbally.

Gingrich appears to have skillfully explained his recent statements on illegal immigration, saying that after the border is secured and English becomes the official language of government that he would consider offering legal status -- but not citizenship or the right to vote -- to illegals with families residing here after 25 years if a local board approves. But then he turns around and demeans every inner city poor kid with a broad generalization that, "Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works." I would say to the former speaker that you might find somewhere that is true, but to generalize and give the impression that it applies to all poor kids in inner cities isn't so.

Former Republican National Chairman Ed Gillespie says that, at this pivotal stage of the primary season, an all-too-often stiff Romney needs to get more aggressive like Gingrich -- like he did when demanding that Attorney General Eric Holder resign -- and deliver more specifics on job and economic reforms. He says that Gingrich, on the other hand, needs to become a little more like Romney -- more disciplined in his talking points while toning down sweeping rhetoric.

But one thing is for sure, as was recently revealed in a Gallup poll. President Barack Obama's 43 percent approval rating is the lowest "of any president at this stage of his term in modern political history."

Polls indicate many independent voters have abandoned President Obama in droves -- especially in several states that he won in 2008 and where he is now trailing. Remember too, this is not a national election. It is a state-by-state election and it takes 270 electoral votes from states to win.

So Americans hoping and praying for an end to the President Obama era of high taxes, spending and deficits must be smart and discerning as they select the GOP nominee.

J.C. Watts (JCWatts01@jcwatts.com) is chairman of J.C. Watts Companies, a business consulting group. He is former chairman of the Republican Conference of the U.S. House, where he served as an Oklahoma representative from 1995 to 2002. He writes every other week for the Review-Journal.