John Heilemann joined the Morning Joe panel today to discuss why Rick Santorum is staying in the GOP race for president, even though delegate math says he won’t be able to be the party’s nominee. Tonight’s likely crushing in Illinois by Mitt Romney won’t help that fact, either. So why stay? Well, to make things difficult for Mittens, of course! “The question is, can [Santorum] keep him from getting to 1,144 delegates and then somehow, in a contested convention end up with the nomination,” Heilemann said. “Santorum can’t get to 1,144 by June, but there is a mathematical way to keep Romney from getting there. That’s what their objective is.” Math: The only thing to make an eighteen-month presidential primary more exciting!
