Why don’t Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum just quit?

By Jonathan Renshon, Jennifer Lerner and Philip Tetlock,
WashPost
Published: April 6

After nearly 40 primaries, Mitt Romney has more than twice as many delegates as Rick Santorum and more than four times Newt Gingrich’s tally. And Ron Paul’s count barely registers. So why is this still a four-man race?

Part of the answer lies in the fact that decisions to quit a presidential race have little to do with voters and delegates — and everything to do with what’s going on in a candidate’s head. Staying in when there’s no hope of winning can become a quest for a consolation prize, such as a future Cabinet appointment. But fighting a losing battle also reflects human beings’ tendency to gamble, no matter how long the odds. It’s also about fighting for one’s reputation. Who wants to forever be regarded as a failed presidential candidate?

Santorum clearly doesn’t. After Tuesday’s losses to Romney in the District, Maryland and Wisconsin, he conjured up comparisons to Ronald Reagan’s long-shot GOP nomination bid in 1976:

Reagan “lost almost every early primary. He only won one until May. . . . Everybody told him to get out of the race,” Santorum said in a speech in Pennsylvania. “There’s one person who understood we don’t win by moving to the middle.”

(More here.)