An e-mail:
I see that some people (Adler, Geraghty) are calling for Fred to stay in the race. The practical consequence of Thompson’s presence so far has been to hand South Carolina to McCain. It’s seems unlikely that this dynamic will change in other southern states. All Thompson is managing to do is to split the conservative vote and clear the way for McCain.
Adler also makes the improbable claim that Romney has been revealed as a very weak candidate, even though the information is right there on The Corner that Romney has garnered more votes so far than anyone else in the race.
Lastly, Romney gets slammed for spending money. He is the only candidate running who is attempting to win or place in every state. Giuliani, who also has spent quite a lot, has abandoned most of the country. Fred made a minimal effort outside SC. I half expect a plea for campaign finance reform to follow some of these complaints that Romney is spending too much money. It’s very strange.
UPDATE: Another:
Fred is “splitting” the conservative vote with Huckabee. Don’t ask me
why a conservative would vote for Huckabee, but without Fred, Huckabee
would have won S.C. big. If all of Fred’s votes had gone to Romney, he
still would have been third. Fred should stay in. I’d rather see a
brokered convention than Huckabee or McCain as the nominee before then.