But this plot has a twist. Sources are spilling a few beans about how Romney's endorsement of McCain came about. Let me first add that I thought he would eventually endorse McCain anyway. I wasn't sure when, but the position that Romney is in right now is politically advantageous. He almost can't lose no matter what choices he makes, as long as his positions stay right. It's becoming clear that McCain's people sought out Romney's people shortly after Romney speech at CPAC. Some of McCain's top advisors approached a former McCain advisor about securing a Romney endorsement. This former advisor is close to Romney's campaign manager. These two traded emails and Romney was persuaded to endorse McCain.

What this reveals is something huge about McCain. He may still be a maverick in the eyes of conservatives, but the straight talk express finally got filled up with some common sense unleaded. Underneath it all, McCain realizes that he needs Romney, or at least his people do (or he's too prideful to admit it so he acts through his people). As McCain mentioned in his comments after Romney's endorsement, he now has access to Romney's people -- in other words, to Romney's resources -- his strengths. I don't foresee a McCain/Romney ticket, but I do see McCain having access to a team that can raise $5 to $6 million a day, and one that is well organized and fueled by a strong base. No doubt that Romney will be campaigning with and for McCain all over the country, as well as for other conservative senators, representatives, and governors. Romney will be very visible and that will only help him if he runs for office in the future.

Romney's base, like Bob Cratchit's wife, will vote for McCain for Romney's sake, the Party's sake, and for the country's sake. They do recognize that John McCain has some strong points. He does appear to be a cantankerous old man who won't back down from a fight. Who better to fight the war on terror than someone who faced it every day and survived? Also, McCain will fight for lower taxes and condemn wasteful pork barrel spending. His ACU lifetime rating is 82 percent.

But that is where Romney's strategy and example come into play. He is showing us that we need to focus on uniting and supporting all conservatives wherever we find them. McCain's issues with the conservative base don't come from his first few years as a representative or senator. They come from his most recent years of service, where a downward trend in his ACU ratings has produced the 82 percent. For example, in 2006, McCain's ACU rating was 65 percent. There's no doubt that McCain will be conservative, as long as he has a conservative congress that can keep a check on him. If he finds opposition from a liberal congress, he's more likely to side with the liberals in order to "get things done" for the country, as Rush Limbaugh mentioned. That's why it's so important that we support McCain. It's obvious that he will be the nominee, and that potentially can be a great thing for America. We need to focus on the senate and house races and support all conservatives campaigning in order to ensure that McCain's "maverick" tendencies are well checked.

McCain may have said "Bah, humbug" to the conservatives he needs, but the fact that his campaign reached out to Romney behind the scenes shows that the ghosts of Conservativism have visited him, and there may yet be some hope for the old Scrooge. Remember that Scrooge helped Tim to walk again. Consider how Clinton or Obama would help Tiny Tim... they'd have all on crutches so Tim wouldn't feel so bad, at Bob Cratchit's expense of course.

As the story goes, Mitt Romney didn't make the decision to suspend his campaign until he was writing his CPAC speech. While in a strategy meeting on Wednesday he mentioned that he didn't want to do anything that would harm the country. This was the first sign that he was considering dropping out. As he wrote the speech, when he got to the parts about the war on terror, he began to change the tone of the speech. It began to be about ending his campaign. He consulted his family about his decision and on Thursday morning, moments before he gave his speech, the media broke the story.

In fact, it was so unexpected that Romney's supporters in the room didn't even know about it. Laura Ingraham, who introduced Romney at CPAC found out only ten minutes prior to giving her introduction speech. Once again, nothing about this election cycle is predictable or certain, except perhaps that John McCain will be the Republican nominee for president.

Many of Romney's long-time supporters, and his newly found converts, were angry at the news. Others were speechless. This was by far his best speech of the campaign, and some have contested that it was one of the best political speeches of the past fifteen to twenty years.

Romney's 2008 political, death-bed confession revealed who he really was and what he really believed. It was very different form the debate performances and stump speeches. People wondered where this Romney was a week ago, or even a year ago. Had they seen this Romney, they would have rallied to him before this happened. But this is how politics goes.

What went wrong for Romney? Authenticity. It was what everyone had been saying for a long time. Romney seemed to be holding back on what he was most passionate about, and he got a late start on focusing on his strengths as a candidate. Those who follow the issues closely have been riding with him for a long time, but he couldn't connect with the average voter. Romney, in some ways, is a political newcomer. It was one of his strengths, but in this case, it was also his weakness. He never showed his real self and personality until the end.

What went right? Well, for one, he left on a high note. Most of talk radio and some key conservative congressional figures have endorsed him. His passion, humility, self sacrifice, and patriotism are still lauded. People were drawn to the speech and are already hoping he will return for 2012. It was at CPAC, and there could have been no better place for a future conservative movement leader to speak. In fact, after Thursday's speech, other well known conservatives essentially welcomed him into the "club."

I think the most important things about the speech are probably things that Romney was not consciously aware of as he made his decision. For one, it puts the ball in McCain's and Huckabee's courts. Huckabee has been seen as trying to get McCain's VP slot, and could stand accused of being in collusion with McCain for trying to bump off the true conservative in the campaign. But if Huckabee stays in, he will be guilty of what Romney feared he would cause; the prolonging of the Republican general campaign, a Democrat victory, the withdrawal of troops, and the strengthening of terrorists.

McCain, however, is made to look like a liar. It was McCain who tried to tell us all that Romney was for timed withdrawal from Iraq, and he consistently lied about it. He even went so far as to call Romney unpatriotic over Romney's comments about Bob Dole's letter to Rush Limbaugh. Now that Romney has ended his campaign because of his desire for a safe and secure America, it underscores the idea that McCain lied for political expediency. Romney has come away as the hero, even in his political defeat.

What's next for Romney? Some think he'd make a great VP for McCain. Although it sounds great, McCain is too prideful to allow Romney on his ticket, and Romney may even benefit from not being a part of his administration. One thing is for certain, he isn't going away. He'll most likely be visible by campaigning for Republican senators and governors. And CPAC may invite him to speak again next year. His options are wide open and I suspect he will only get more popular and stronger.

What's next for us? Well, like Romney, our options are open. The future of the country is up to us. We will have to vote for McCain, but the 2010 midterm elections are coming up, and it's up to us elect strong, conservative Republicans to Congress. We have a lot of work to do.

It looks to me that Romney has set a little spark in the Republican party. Even though the future with McCain's administration is uncertain, Romney's example gives a silver lining. Kind of the way Reagan inspired conservatives in 1976. Conservatives are not going away, especially in this time of war. There are two fronts: the War on Extremist Jihadists, and the War on Extremist Liberals.

Like many others who support Mitt Romney, I spent the past day reflecting on the results of the Super Tuesday primary results. I have to admit, the overall results are sobering.

Looking deeper at exit polls is a little encouraging but it doesn't change the fact that John McCain now has a commanding lead in the delegate count. For a Romney guy, I've gone through all the same thoughts as the other Romney people: What about McCain's dirty trick in West Virginia? What about the possibility of an anti-Mormon voting bloc in the South? What about the illogical way in which California assigned its delegates? In fact, the list can go on and on, but in the end, all us Romney folks need to put the past behind us and look ahead.

There are twenty more states to vote, and if Romney and Huckabee have anything to say about it, this will come down to the convention.

That's why Romney people need to be realistic. Mitt will fight on, but if he doesn't win the convention, what do we do? The party is effectively split three ways, even though the majority of the votes have gone to McCain. He still can't win conservative votes. The conservatives are split between Romney and Huckabee. If McCain joined with either of them, that would be enough to win the majority support of Republicans. If Romney and Huckabee joined forces, they could be a strong force against McCain.

But at this point, when looking at the convention, we need to realize that we are going to have to join forces with someone, and we'd better start thinking about it now. In fact, we need to start looking at which alliances would provide the greatest potential strength to the Party for the general election. The best alliance would be a ticket with McCain and Romney, regardless of who is No. 1 and who's No. 2.

This is why: Huckabee has won strong Republican states that would vote for the Republican nominee anyway. In fact, McCain and Huckabee were close in most of those states; Huckabee doesn't really give McCain anything that he doesn't have already. In fact, a McCain/Huckabee ticket would benefit Huckabee only. Romney, however can give McCain a lot, and McCain can bring to Romney something that only a long-time Washington Insider can give - influence.

Romney can raise money. On the first day of his campaign, he raised $6 million. The day after his LOSS in New Hampshire, he brought in $5 million. McCain in all of last month (his best month) brought in $7 million. Obama raised over $30 million. As Hugh Hewitt mentioned yesterday, McCain needs Romney's money, the same money that he criticized.

Romney could deliver Minnesota, Colorado, and other critical purple states as well as Michigan and Massachusetts in the general election. On the economy, Romney would be a vital asset. Any way you look at it, McCain and Romney would be a powerful and formidable ticket. Conservatives would be more likely to unite under such a ticket than a McCain/Huckabee ticket, which would isolate Romney supporters.

Romney people, I think, would be more likely to put aside rivalry for the sake of the nation. McCain might be a tougher sell. Reagan and Bush didn't get along in their primary race, but combined on the ticket, they brought in the political era that conservatives revere as the Pax Reagana. With the prospects of Obama being the Democrat nominee, conservatives need a powerful and competent ticket to compete. Sure, Romney and Huckabee should continue to campaign to the convention. The stronger the candidates, the better. But we also need to begin to piece ourselves back together and forge alliances that are not only strong enough to win the general election, but to unite the Party and advance the principles of conservatives for the next four years and beyond.