The total delegate count for the remaining 8 primaries that are Winner-Take-All is 388.
Romney can’t win.
Both Newt and Rick need to stay in the race, primarily, to keep Rick honest and in the game to the end.
I think SoCon has it right Jedi. I’m not an expert, but it looks as though there’s only 8 WTA states, and they seem relatively small with respect to delegates. If Newt or Rick were to drop out Romney will get a good number of delegates in big states like California.
“Both Newt and Rick need to stay in the race, primarily, to keep Rick honest and in the game to the end.”
Interesting. I have very mixed feelings about Gingrich remaining in the race. This is the best rationale for doing so that I have seen.
“Both Newt and Rick need to stay in the race”
If that happens it’s unlikely that either one of them will win any of the winner-take-all states you listed.
Your strategy can prolong the race but will not change the final outcome. The only way to change the final outcome is if the losing candidates begin to drop out.
Just looking at your scenario, if Romney takes the 8 winner-take-all states and wins only 30% of the vote in the proportional races that already puts him over the top with 1174 delegates.