Charlie argues, correctly, that it was easier to get Pence and Scott out of the race because they were actually running in the hopes of being president, and Christie and Ramaswamy are not. But that’s not the end of the story. What are they running to do? Ramaswamy’s goals in running — to raise his own visibility for the future and to curry favor with Trump — are reasons to stay in the race at least as long as he’s getting press coverage and is more help than hindrance for Trump (for example, in a Trump race against Haley without DeSantis, it would probably be harmful to Trump for Ramaswamy to be drawing away populist voters who would be unlikely to support Haley).

But what about Christie? His theory for being in the race has been that somebody has to hit Trump with more bluntness than is possible from the people actually running to win. But much of that case has dissipated as it has become apparent that Christie will never get Trump on the same stage with him. Nor is Christie really positioning well for either a talk-show gig or a role in a future administration. This is where we find out if Christie has learned anything from 2016, when he stayed in through New Hampshire to block Marco Rubio, his endorsement of Trump aided Trump, and then he still did not get anything but a peripheral role in the Trump administration.

[I’d prefer Ramaswamy exit next. At least Burgum and Christie are substantive candidates and have significant executive experience as governors. Ramaswamy is a self-promoting, one-note clown whose only agenda seems to be mindless nihilism aimed at the party whose nomination Ramaswamy seeks. — Ed]