Politics / Election 2012 National Review to Gingrich: Drop Out Conservative magazine's editors urge Newt to exit presidential race By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff Posted Feb 13, 2012 11:21 AM CST Updated Feb 13, 2012 1:55 PM CST Copied Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, Friday, Feb. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) The editors of the National Review have a message for Newt Gingrich: It's time to go. Rick Santorum is increasingly emerging as Mitt Romney's main challenger, as he overtakes Gingrich in contests won, delegates, and poll numbers, and the conservative magazine's editors want to see a Romney-Santorum contest. Gingrich is talented, but "it would be a grave mistake for the party to make someone with such poor judgment and persistent unpopularity its presidential nominee." When Gingrich was leading Santorum in the polls, he urged Santorum to quit. "On his own arguments the proper course for him now is to endorse Santorum and exit." (More Election 2012 stories.) Report an error