Could Newt pull off a Delaware upset?

Politico breathlessly asks the question and suggests that the answer might be yes:

Newt Gingrich has got a new hope: the tiny but dangerous state of Delaware.

With Mitt Romney and the national press corps now focused on the general election, Gingrich is hoping to become the Christine O’Donnell of the 2012 race — rallying the state’s conservatives to pull off an upset victory over the more moderate candidate who never saw it coming.

While Romney has ignored it, Gingrich has spent most of his time recently in Delaware, a state with only 17 delegates that will be awarded on a winner-take-all basis in Tuesday night’s primary races, which also include Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York.

Sure, a win by the former House speaker — who has laid off most of his staff and is millions of dollars in debt — in Delaware is still a longshot.

But even some Romney backers are becoming increasingly concerned that Gingrich could catch them flatfooted and pull out a surprise victory in the state.

I suppose a Gingrich victory in Delaware is possible. After all, as Politico reminds us, Christine O’Donnell rode the conservative vote to an improbable victory in the Delaware Senate primary in 2010. On the other hand, O’Donnell has endorsed Romney. Go figure.

A Gingrich victory in Delaware would bestow 15 minutes of attention on the former Speaker, and 30 minutes of embarrassment on Romney. It would then be forgotten.

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