Chris Cillizza refutes his own argument:
Regardless of whether Newt knows it or not, his chances of remaining a major player in this race effectively ended with his second place finishes in Mississippi and Alabama....
Santorum started with leads [in Michigan and Ohio] and watched them evaporate amid a series of unforced errors and heavy spending from Romney and his Restore Our Future super PAC. If that pattern repeats itself in Illinois in six days time, Santorum’s last, best chance will disappear.
As would any anti-Romney resistance movement, should Gingrich have absented himself.
Mitt's precision bombing campaign has been well underway in Illinois for days now, and it's my understanding that Santorum has yet to spend a dime. If the Romney war machine dispatches Santorum to the point of humiliation, the latter's future, as Cillizza notes, would darken considerably. What, then, is the next logical step? Exactly. The recycling of Newt Gingrich, again.
But he can't recycle himself if he withdraws from the race. So, like Newt, I just don't see the benefit of his slithering into the night. Not yet.
I don't know if you are familiar with betting strategies in horse racing but I'm willing to bet
Sheldon Adelson is. His best strategy for his declared favorites, Newt and Mitt, is to box them. This logic applies only to the nominating process mind, but keeping a funding stream to Newt will either be successful or it will help Romney. Either way he wins. This doesn't take into account the effects this will have longer term during the election but then I have noticed a distinct lack of right wing interest in the long term effects of anything.
Posted by: Peter G | March 14, 2012 at 03:33 PM