You nailed it- it’s all about momentum. Santorum will have a tsunami working for him if he pulls an IL win. I agree with Yaelle, Newt needs to get the hell out of the race. But apparently he’s ego is getting in the way. This would have been all over for Romney, if Newt did the proper thing and dropped out after Santorum’s smashing trifecta win. Very likely Santorum would have carried WA; almost certainly MI (where Romney won by a mere 3 % points) and definitely in Ohio where Romney won by less than 1% of a point. Newt is now the saboteur. But don’t tell that to some of our FReepers here who have their heads buried not in sand but in concrete.
You always forget to mention Rick blew big leads in Michigan and Ohio, and actually finished 3rd in Washington (even with all Newt’s votes he would have lost).
I’m ok with newt trying his southern strategy in MS and AL. But at that point it was time for him to be a statesman and step aside. He would and still does have enough power to be a king maker.