Glad you bring up 2008 election.
Do you recall Romney VOLUNTARILY dropped out early to eliminate dividing RINO voters?
But conservatives had no such unity. Giuliani, Duncan Hunter, Huckabee, Fred Thompson etc did NOT drop out voluntarily.
Same thing happened in 2012.
Romney had no one dividing RINO voters.
But conservatives stayed in race to the bitter end, unless forced to drop out due to lack of money. Santorum and Gingrich fought to the bitter end, clearing path for Romney.
Romney only dropped out in 2008 after a poor Super Tuesday showing.
Giuliani, Duncan Hunter, and Fred Thompson were out before Super Tuesday. Ron Paul was the main spoilsport, and Huckabee was the major opponent of McCain after Romney dropped out.