We're talking about average Joes on the street, not FR inside-baseball. Most won't have a clue how their delegates are allocated. Newt's getting 14% in Illinois right now and Mitt is in the lead. Its districts are winner-take-all by direct delegate election. If Mitt's delegates win 34%-33%-33% he gets all the delegates in the district, the other guys get nothing. Although MI and OH weren't winner-take-all to that strict a standard, Newt still got enough votes to put Rick's total under Mitt's, even though he didn't campaign there. Without Newt and Rick teaming up on the same ticket, there's virtually no chance we'll beat Romney in enough of these non-proportional contests (where 800 of 1200 upcoming delegates come from) to deny him getting 1,144 delegates by June. And the notion that Newt or Rick could sway "unbound" delegates, even when all the articles say the GOP is stacking them with party insiders, is a fantasy. I would rather Rick drop out and be Newt's V.P., but the point is their supporters need to tell them there is no way forward without them teaming up and we will back them no matter how they decide to put the ticket together.
Somehow I don't see Rick being willing to opt for the #2 spot as Newt's VeeP ...or even if he did that his base would support that. Seems like there are some pretty entrenched attitudes with both Newt and Rick's supporters.