[TonyInOhio]

I've been here for a long time, and have been an Ohio voter for far longer. I also like Newt, a lot, and would be happy to see him win the nomination. However, I voted for Rick Santorum this morning, as did roughly half of Ohio GOP voters, and I can assure you that if Newt had decided to drop out of the race, Santorum would be winning Ohio, easily.

Santorum's appeal in Ohio has many facets, but he did one thing that Newt failed to do - he campaigned hard here, and he asked for votes. His speeches in my part of the state (the rural, NW section) were packed, in part because social conservatives were enthusiastic about his campaign. A good chunk of rural Ohio is Catholic (me included), and Rick's faith (and lack of scandal in his personal life) had strong appeal, and I think he did a good job connecting with blue collar voters in a way that is hard for Newt (or Romney, especially) to do.

Again, I like newt, but I no longer believe he can win the nomination, and I believe he should drop out and support Santorum.

As an aside, voter turnout in the GOP primary was up strongly from 2008, which had to give Brak the willies. :) This bolsters my theory that Brak will not carry Ohio, regardless of the GOP nominee - the urge to be rid of him is stronger than the dislike of our candidates, all of them.

[bushinohio]

I’m in NW Ohio too, Putnam Co., a heavy Catholic area. Santorum did very well here.

[berdie]

O.K...I have a very sincere question.

In the technological world we live in..the candidates are on t.v. ad nauseum. There is internet coverage out the wazoo.

Why is it important for the candidate to actually “ask for votes” in person?

Like I said, I am being sincere because I don’t understand when the issues can be researched why it is an issue.

[LeopoldvonRanke]

“Again, I like newt, but I no longer believe he can win the nomination, and I believe he should drop out and support Santorum.”

It’s time. GA is done. Santorum is favored over Newt everywhere else from here on.

Losing Ohio and winning GA was not a victory for the good guys, we lost a state that we really needed to win because 15 percent of Ohoian did not vote for Santorum.

Without Newt - Santorum would have delivered both South Carolina and Georgia, as well as taking Ohio and Michigan. We would not be talking today about how to keep Romney from winning all the delegates, we would be talking today about Santorum as the republican nominee.

That did not happen.

If the primary goal is to defeat Romney then Newt needs to drop out.