>>54696717Why will those people be gone? Historically speaking, many do not drop out prior to the first group of primaries. There's no reason to.
Santorum is banking on Iowa. Gilmore and Pataki are doing this for business opportunities and they're not spending a lot of money on plane flights and hotels just to participate. Hell, gilmore isn't even getting debate invites so I doubt he's not spending anymore than he currently does in his role on the NRA Board.
Jindal might have to drop out because he's a sitting governor. Same issue Walker faced and same issue Christie is facing. Otherwise Jindal would have no incentive to drop out before Iowa either.
If you look at 2012, Pawlenty dropped out like Walker because it was clear he wasn't going to win. Cain dropped out because of the scandal, like Perry. McCotter was the only additional candidate to drop out early, and that was due to very low support.
But when you look at the very low support candidates in this field:
Graham = banking on SC
Santorum = banking on Iowa and his 2012 strategy
Pataki and Gilmore = personal gain
Jindal = Whatever the fuck he's trying to do
Jindal and Christie are the only two who might have to drop out prior to Iowa. Huckabee will last long enough to see how he fares with evangelicals in the Iowa primary to determine if he wants to go forward.
>>54696958He only got his position because he was the anointed successor to Strom Thurmond. I doubt he'll get another term, but he doesn't have to worry about that for a while.