This happens as Newt is rising and Santorum falling.
What?
Newt’s just too far behind. He’s lost enough states that he needs to win in order to beat Romney. 1/3rd have already picked, and only one went Newt. It’s not just every state that Santorum wins, its that Romney’s winning them too.
It’s a hard enough task chasing delegates when you are second. When you are third, it’s another task altogether.
The only hope that Newt has for the nomination is a brokered convention. That only works if the conservatives can pile up enough delegates to stop Romney.
What’s happening right now is that Romney is taking advantage of his divided opposition and racking up delegates.
I know it’s tough, but the decision makes sense at this point. We can’t afford to give up more ground to Romney and let him run away with the nomination.
If that’s what happened, then Newt accomplished exactly what he needed to do, prevent a conservative ascendency and make Mitt Romney the Republican nominee, awarding Obama a 2nd term.
That’s the reality of it right now.
Back in december I can see the argument, but Newt wasn’t able to carry his support over when it became apparent that it wasn’t just him that could win this. That’s been the trend since early last year. Cain, Bachmann, Perry, Cain again. It’s the same as with Romney. All the time Newt was there, and conservatives when given a not-Newt, Not Romney, have pushed them to the forefront.