Here’s the thing about a split vote:
In many states, even those with proportional delegate counts, a split vote doesn’t necessarily translate into the same split in the delegate count.
Of course in a winner-take-all primary the obvious happens: a 35-30-25-10 outcome awards ALL the delegates to the guy who got the 35.
But even in a proportional state, a 35-30-25-10 outcome can result in a huge disparity between the number of delegates that the #1 guy gets and the number of delegates that the #2 guy gets.
No matter how you spin it (and I’ve read so much spin on this subject lately that I have to keep a barf-bag handy) Gingrich and Santorum both remaining in the race gives Romney a huge boost. Period.
All other statements on the subject are complete 100% total BS.
Romney vs. Gingrich+Santorum = Romney Wins. Period.
Romney vs. Gingrich, or Romney vs. Santorum, means that Romney loses.
But conservatives are stupid. We can’t coalesce behind a single candidate. Instead, we congratulate ourselves on having two conservative alternatives... while handing the race to Romney.
Romney must really, really be laughing at us. Really laughing hard.
We. Are. Stupid.
See eighteen. Also ask your local talk radio stations to have her as a guest. Shame Hannity hasn’t. Maybe he doesn’t know about her....hint.
In addition to that, Santorum is up to his usual incompetent political speed. He has absolutely no clear economic plan, would not know how to even begin to approach it and he is not even close to being fiscally conservative or a Washington Outsider like he has his Lemming supporters convinced he is.
I'm sure you believe that but it's based on the premise that Santorum & Gingrich are splitting the anti-Romney/Paul vote and if one dropped out the other would unite that opposition. Polling says that belief is demonstrably unfounded.
An easy example: if Santorum had dropped out after Florida, Romney would have won Colorado and Missouri (at least) because Newt couldn't pull the kind of support in the Midwest that Santorum can. Likewise, there's a certain affinity for Gingrich in the South that Santorum (so far) has not shown.
It's a delicate balance and one that can work against conservatives in select states, but as long as we're dealing with proportional allocation a 4-way split is clearly preferable. Maybe one candidate should drop out in late March, but that's a long way away.
I understand your concern about Newt and Santorum splitting, but what are you going to be able to do about it? Which one is going to drop out?