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South Carolina voters, and to a lesser extent, those in Florida, will likely react badly to having their choices limited too much.

Romney won Iowa, he is going to win New Hampshire, he is out ahead by double digits in South Carolina and is leading in Florida. If we don't stop splitting the conservative vote before Florida then Romney will have won the first four primaries. He already has most of the establishment locked up and with the momentum from for consecutive win he will have all but locked up the nomination.

If reality hurts the feelings of the people in Florida too darn bad. Conservatives can either feel good or win. Pick one. Holding out for your pet candidate will hand it to Romney, who will in turn hand the nation back to Obama. It is just that simple.

Push the big states farther back. It is the big states early in the race that forces the quick decision. If the fourth primary was Montana, Alabama or Alaska we could keep arguing about the "Best" conservative candidate. But after Florida the delegates get decided very quickly. After that it is all about big organization and establishment support. So if Romney is still the front runner at that point no insurgent is going to unseat him.

We cannot let Romney win four in a row. The chance to beat him in Iowa was lost. New Hampshire was a lost cause from the start. If we still have a three way conservative split Romney will pick up South Carolina as well. Florida is the conservative's last ditch. We need to have all our guns pointed at the enemy. If we are fighting in three or four directions among ourselves Romney will cut us to pieces and defeat us in detail.

The conservative vote is split because the group who believe both Gingrich and Santorum are conservative and/or acceptable seems to be the minority. Taking one of them out of the equation does not necessarily put the other in a position of beating Romney. Some of the “released” voters will go to Romney, some will not vote at all, and others will find someone else for whom to vote, perhaps even Paul as a protest. Can you even guarantee that the Santorum voters who came out of the Undecided pool are the same ones who were polled as for Gingrich?