I knew this was coming, but it still feels so, so good. In brief: Newt Gingrich is scaling back his campaign to the point of irrelevancy. Politico says:


Newt Gingrich is cutting back his campaign schedule, will lay off about a third of his cash-strapped campaign’s full-time staff, and has replaced his manager as part of what aides are calling a “big-choice convention” strategy, communications director Joe DeSantis told POLITICO.
...
DeSantis said the former Speaker will continue to visit states with primaries, but will have a less intense campaign schedule. DeSantis promised that the campaign will be “more positive and ideas-focused,” eschewing attacks on Republican rivals. The aide said the campaign will be more digital, focusing on low-cost communications tools, including informational videos, social media and the web.

This way, I guess, Gingrich can save face by not "dropping out" before the Republican National Convention like he promised, but he doesn't go much more in debt than he already is. Of course, he's leaving the race just late enough that he won't provide Santorum with enough of a bump to catch up with Romney—I think if Gingrich backed out in January, the race between Santorum and Romney would be much, much tighter right now. So, I guess...thank you, Newt? And have fun running your Li'l Campaign™. I'm sure it'll be totally adorable and awesome.