Patrick Ruffini

Newt, Santorum, Huntsman, or Perry (now that that he’s at minimum floated the idea of dropping out) probably cannot sustain a long and winning primary campaign on their own. Paul can, but for entirely different reasons, and not in a winning sense. 

At the same time, we’ve seen tremendous disquiet with the field, with talk of a Christie or a Rubio somehow swooping in late in the game.  

Newt has floated the idea of a Santorum alliance to stop Romney. It would be much more interesting to see what we used to see in Presidential politics: the use of stalking horse candidates (usually local governors or Senators) who received first ballot votes at the convention that would be later traded away on subsequent ballots. 

The most effective, and probably the only, way for a non-Romney candidate to win or make a dent in New Hampshire is not to run as themselves, but to be a vessel for someone else: Vote for me, and I will release all my delegates to vote for Chris Christie at the convention.

That would get votes.