Big news coming out of The Hill today:

“The Wall Street Journal pressed [Newt Gingrich Campaign Spokesman R.C.]  Hammond as to whether Gingrich ‘has to win’ in Alabama and Mississippi and whether the former Speaker's credibility rests on carrying the states next Tuesday.

Hammond responded affirmatively to each question.”

This greatly increases the importance of next Tuesday’s primaries. If Rick Santorum can win both Mississippi and Alabama, not an unlikely prospect as of yet, Mr. Gingrich might drop out.

Then again, Mr. Gingrich is not known for his realistic assessments of the state of the race.

We will have to wait and see, but if Mr. Gingrich does drop out next week, then Mr. Santorum could finally benefit from the anti-Romney voting block finally uniting. This would conceivably give him the electoral support he needs to pick off some more conservative primary states going forward.

This would prolong the race, and make life a whole lot harder for Mitt Romney.

Stay tuned; I’ll post an update when polling results start coming in from Mississippi and Alabama. 

Noah Karr Kaitin is a junior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He may be reached at nkarrkaitin@cornellsun.com. The Hill is a politics blog that aims to stimulate discussion on today's most pressing issues,  be they related to Cornell or national affairs. If you're interested in joining the conversation, please contact thehill@cornellsun.com.