Rick Santorum so far has refrained from explicitly calling on Newt Gingrich to exit the GOP presidential race — but, fortunately for Santorum, his supporters aren’t following his example. Today, an adviser to Santorum’s Super PAC, the Red White and Blue Fund, said what you just know Rick Santorum wishes it were good politics for him to say:

“Based on his electoral performance last night and his out-of-step record, it is time for Newt Gingrich to exit the Republican nominating process,” Stuart Roy, a Red, White, and Blue Fund advisor, said, adding that Gingrich’s “campaign is an obvious non-starter.” …

“With Gingrich exiting the race it would be a true head-to-head race and conservatives would be able to make a choice between a consistent conservative in Rick Santorum or Mitt Romney,” Roy said. “For instance, with Gingrich out of the race Santorum would have won both Ohio and Michigan.

“Newt has become a hindrance to a conservative alternative,” he added.

In January, Newt Gingrich wanted Rick Santorum to drop out for the sake of the conservative cause, but don’t expect him to apply the same reasoning to himself. Realistically, Newt Gingrich isn’t about to drop out. He’s won just two states to Santorum’s seven, but his win last night in Georgia keeps his campaign alive, as WaPo’s Felicia Sonmez explains:

There’s a good case to be made that more than Mitt Romney’s six winsyesterday or Rick Santorum’s three, it’s Newt Gingrich’s sole victory in his home state of Georgia that could wind up having the biggest impact on the race.

Gingrich captured nearly half the popular vote in Georgia. And Santorum, who placed third behind Romney, may not qualify for any of Georgia’s 76 delegates, given that he appears to have fallen just shy of the state GOP’s 20-percent threshold.

So despite calls by Santorum aides and others for the GOP’s conservative base to start rallying behind Santorum, Gingrich’s Peach State victory could mean the anti-Romney forces remain splintered for some time to come.

That’s all good news for Mitt Romney, who in all likelihood will ride the divided vote all the way to the nomination.