I’m open to being persuaded but I do not see how this was “a set up.”
If Santorum loses this state by a small margin, he still isn't going to drop out.
He will just do what Newt is doing and stay in as long as he can to be a thorn is Romney's side.
You do know that unless something big happens to knock Romney out, he is going to wrap this up either before or at the convention. In fact, if Romney wins Ohio and a host of other states on Super Tuesday the chances for Newt or Santorum are most likely over.
I imagine Texas is being pushed back so that Mitt can secure the nomination well before Texas.
If you look at the rest of the states, most of them will go Romney with the exception of a few southern states. That won't be enough to put Newt or Santorum near the votes they need for the nomination.
Wyoming has already gone Romney, California will go Romney as most western states will.
The Mitt team has the big experts in the demographics of these states like Tokyo Rove, Dick Morris etc. They know what areas to stifle Rick or Newt. So far, it is working along with a deluge of negative ads aided by the continued venom between the Newt and Rick supporters.