Despite cutting down to a barebones staff and slashing campaign events, Gingrich still has a role to play, a spokesman says.

Reuters

Just a day after announcing the campaign had shed a third of its staff, a spokesman for Newt Gingrich insisted on Wednesday that the campaign was not near the end and that the former Speaker of the House would take the fight all the way to the convention.

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When asked on CNN's Starting Point if the news was an indication the campaign was on its "very last legs," Gingrich communications director Joe DeSantis said he did not agree, "It's just an indication we're re-organizing to execute the strategy we think we need to win the nomination."

The campaign understands it cannot get the 1,144 delegates needed to secure the nomination, he said, but will instead focus on "key states." The campaign will later try to convince delegates before the convention to back Gingrich. If a nominee is selected at the convention, Gingrich hopes to be the man.

"If Newt were to drop out of the race, it would actually virtually guarantee Mitt Romney the nomination," DeSantis said. "If conservatives really want to rally around a conservative standard bearer ... they need Newt to stay in to prevent a Romney nomination."