This is bad.
It becomes good if someone can come up with a theory that says "losing is good".
The biggest threat to our plans was Romney getting 1144, and this increases that likelihood.
If we want something to be enthusiastic about, we should have more delegates going into Tampa. That's a good thing, important, unless Romney has 1144, in which case it's "nice", but not really that important.
Perhaps Santorum dropping out could cause some momentum shift toward Paul which somehow would result in Romney getting fewer delegates with only 2 challengers than he would've gotten with 3 challengers. It's possible.
The only real question is whether Santorum dropping out means more delegates for Romney or less.
In PA, Romney and Santorum were at 40%, Paul and Gingrich were at 10%.
If all of Santorums votes went to Paul or Gingrich, that's great. But if any of Santorums votes went to Romney, it's good for Romney.
The most likely outcomes in the Northeast primaries are Romney wins everywhere handily. That was the case before, except not quite as handily.
The outcomes will be better for Paul in the states outside the Northeast. We'll need Santorum's rural voters in May.
Ron Paul should start talking like Santorum, focus on getting his voters.
