WASHINGTON - Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum met privately with conservative leaders on Thursday to craft plans to try to stop Mitt Romney's march to the nomination. Pressuring rival Newt Gingrich to leave the race was part of their overall strategy.
The northern Virginia meeting included a host of fiscal and social conservatives who have long doubted Romney's conservative credentials.
"Like halftime at a football game, you go into the locker room to gauge what has been working and what hasn't," meeting participant Richard A. Viguerie, chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, said in a statement. "The Santorum campaign team recognizes that, because of Mitt Romney's money advantage and his support from the Republican establishment and the mainstream media, Rick has, to some extent, lost control of narrative in the campaign."
