Gingrich: Romney the 'most likely' GOP nominee

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Newt Gingrich says he wants to influence the party's platform
• The former House speaker wants to help defeat Barack Obama
• Poll shows Republican battle bruises presumed GOP nominee Mitt Romney
• Gingrich says he has no desire to join a Romney administration

Washington (CNN) -- None of the remaining candidates in the battle for the GOP presidential nomination appear prepared to concede the race to Mitt Romney, but that doesn't mean they can't see how it may likely end.

"I think you have to be realistic," Newt Gingrich said on "Fox News Sunday."

"Given the size of his organization, given the number of primaries he's won, he is far and away the most likely Republican nominee."

The admission comes as Rick Santorum, closest to Romney in the delegate count, canceled campaign events for Monday after daughter Isabella, who suffers from a chromosomal condition called Trisomy 18, was hospitalized for the second time this year. His campaign website shows events scheduled for Tuesday through Friday.

Candidates are on the campaign trail jockeying for 231 delegates in the April 24 primaries in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware and Satorum's home state of Pennsylvania, where he served as a U.S. senator.

While Romney tries to focus on the general election campaign against President Obama, a super PAC supporting him will reportedly launch a $2 million ad blitz in Pennsylvania in an effort to land a knockout blow on Santorum.

Asked last week if Santorum would win in his home state, Romney said, "I think everybody expects someone to win their home state. Newt Gingrich won his state. I won my state. I think people expect the senator to win his home state.

"But I hope to pick up a lot of delegates, and we have several other states in the contest on the same day. I would like to win all of those, and if I can win the others and pick up some delegates here, it would give me a stronger lead."

The GOP delegate tally shows Romney with 651, Santorum with 275, Gingrich with 138 and Rep. Ron Paul with 71. Romney can clinch with 493 more.

Asked Sunday if Santorum should get out of the race, Gingrich said, "No, I think he has to make that decision."

The former House speaker has said he will stay in the race until the Republican National Convention in August, despite running a distant third in the delegate count.

The long campaign and the punches and counterpunches from Romney and Santorum have taken their toll on the presumed nominee, especially among independent voters, according to a recent USAToday/Gallup poll of independents in swing states.

"I think Romney through the primaries has been beaten up by the others, seen as removed from, kind of, the middle-class, average voter. Has trouble with women now, with Latinos," said Democratic strategist and pollster Mark Penn on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.

"Boy, I think he's entering the general election now kind of -- a totally beaten-up candidate and this poll is a reflection of that."

But Republican pollster and strategist Linda Divall said that's normal in a campaign and there's time to repair the damage.

"Number one, it's early April. Number two, when you look at it with registered voters, the margin becomes much closer. Thirdly, this is not atypical in a very competitive Republican primary, that our nominee tends to go down," she told "State of the Union" anchor Candy Crowley.

"The other thing that's stymieing Mitt Romney somewhat is the perception of the Republican Party, which has also suffered a little bit of a beating," she said.

"So, I think as the Romney campaign is able to regroup, bring in their general election team, and strike some very clear themes between himself and the president, which they started to do with the speeches the last few days... you'll see a pretty stark contrast in terms of what is the direction that this country should be pursuing -- in terms of the economy and jobs and getting the deficit under control."

In all but conceding the GOP race, Gingrich said he won't give up on trying to influence the party's platform that emerges going into the general election.

"I think platforms matter in the long run in the evolution of the party. And the party is more than just a presidential candidate -- it's Senate candidates, House candidates, state legislators," he said.

Gingrich said Sunday that he thinks Romney will adopt some of the positions that he's advocated: energy independence, personal Social Security accounts, keeping the government from trying to impose itself on religious values and paying down the debt. He said revenue from expanding domestic energy should be directed toward that.

And Gingrich said he has already talked to Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus about working in the fall "to help defeat Obama any way I could -- whatever the team thinks I can do to be helpful, I would do."

Beyond that, he said he wouldn't want to serve in a Romney administration and would rather "go back to a post-political career."

CNN's John Helton, Kevin Bohn and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.

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