Santorum hoping to resume campaign this week after tending to daughter, spokesman says

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Should Santorum stay in the race?

Former Perry campaign manager Rob Johnson weighs in

Rick Santorum's top spokesman said Sunday that the Republican presidential candidate hopes to resume campaigning this coming week, after canceling fundraisers set for Monday in order to tend to his daughter Bella.

His 3-year-old daughter was hospitalized Friday. It was the second time this year Santorum paused from the presidential campaign to care for Bella's health.

Spokesman Hogan Gidley, though, told Fox News the campaign is by no means suspended -- and Santorum remains focused on challenging Mitt Romney in the Pennsylvania primary April 24.

"Of course, Rick is focused right now on making sure little Bella gets better, and so that's what he's going to do," Gidley said. "But there's no suspension of the campaign. The campaign moves on. We have a full slate of events on Tuesday and, hopefully, he'll be able to be back out on the trail."

Santorum's campaign released a schedule Saturday that includes a full slate of events starting Tuesday, including a forum on faith and family and an address to the National Rifle Association's annual conference. All events save for the NRA speech, which will be held in St. Louis, are scheduled on Pennsylvania turf -- Santorum's home state.

Gidley reiterated Sunday that the campaign sees Pennsylvania as the start of their "comeback."

"If we win Pennsylvania, we move into the month of May where we have a lot of states that are going to be very good for us," he said.

Romney's campaign and its supporters have been pouring resources into Pennsylvania in hopes of delivering a knockout blow later this month and effectively claiming the nomination. Romney won the primaries in Maryland, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia last week, bringing him a step closer to the magic number of 1,144 -- the number of delegates needed to be the GOP nominee.

The Santorum campaign has suggested that a loss to Romney in the state could mean the end of the road for the former Pennsylvania senator. But despite the very long odds of surpassing Romney's lead by the time primaries wrap up in June, the Santorum camp is casting a Pennsylvania victory as its springboard to a May surge.

Gidley said the campaign is also eyeing the Texas primary and its 155 delegates next month, citing a movement to try and compel the state to award its delegates on a winner-take-all basis.

The other two candidates in the race, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, are talking much less about their potential path to victory.

Paul has maintained a relatively light campaign schedule in recent weeks.

And Gingrich signaled Sunday that he's preparing for the likelihood of a Romney win.

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Gingrich said Romney will probably take the nomination and that he would be eager to help the former Massachusetts governor campaign against President Obama in the fall.

"We are absolutely committed to defeating Barack Obama," Gingrich said. "I will work as hard for (Romney) as I would for myself."

Gingrich acknowledged his campaign is millions of dollars in debt and that it is "operating on a shoestring." While not bowing out, the former House speaker talked openly about his plans after the primary -- saying he would transition back "to a post-political career" once the 2012 race concludes.

As of Sunday, Romney led the GOP field with 660 delegates, according to the Associated Press tally. Santorum was trailing with 281, followed by Gingrich with 135 and Paul with 51.