Romney: Waiting for the Sixth Shoe To Drop

Last night went really bad for Mitt Romney. He won states he should have and lost all of the states he needed, including California by a wide enough margin that is truly daunting. This follows the losses in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida — and lets remember that Romney’s strategy can be summed up as “Win Early and Win Often.”

If Romney was hoping that a disappointing showing on Tuesday would push Mike Huckabee from the campaign, the former Ark. gov.’s southern wins were certainly a disappointment.

But the earlier news that Huckabee had won West Virginia was likely the final nail. The state has a unique caucus system that requires the winning candidate to get half the vote (kind of like when Catholics pick the pope). In the first round of voting, Romney had more than 40 percent of the vote, with Huckabee and McCain splitting the rest. In the second round, McCain supporters who realized their horse wasn’t going to win went solidly to Huckabee.

What this means is that the general sense that Huckabee was taking away valuable Romney voters is false. That essentially makes Romney the third choice among a majority of Republican voters. That certainly isn’t what you want to face when wondering whether to continue.

My guess is that he’ll stay in until the donated money runs out (if it hasn’t already), but the Romney Trust is likely closed for business.