John Ellis tries to understand why Santorum is still in the race despite the financial burden of the campaign:

Running for president is exhilarating, especially when you’re Rick Santorum and been left for dead after losing in a landslide in Pennsylvania in 2006. It’s vindication; I was right and they were wrong. It’s proof that you “have what it takes.”

So Rick Santorum won’t give up the drug until he absolutely has to, until (as they say) the last dog dies. It’s no longer about logic or delegates or the possibility of the vice presidential nomination. It’s about validation. He is now who he thinks he should be. He’ll have to figure out a way to put his finances back in order later.

Maybe Ellis is right, but I fail to see how there is any vindication in wiping out one’s savings in order to drag out a campaign that can’t win. Romney could have done the same thing after Super Tuesday four years ago, and he was in an even better position to continue opposing McCain, but he saw no point in frittering away even more of his own money in a losing cause. Had Romney wanted to continue his campaign, he could have been a thorn in McCain’s side for at least two or three months, but he evidently realized that his ambitions would be better served by dropping out of the race and waiting until the next cycle.

It isn’t vindication for Santorum to lose double-digit leads in Michigan and Ohio in a matter of weeks. It is more of a confirmation that Santorum’s support collapses once voters have had a chance to get to know him. Staying in the race isn’t going to repair his political reputation of being unelectable. It will provide multiple occasions for voters to prove that this reputation was well-deserved.