(CNN) -- Newt Gingrich quit the presidential race on Wednesday. Long after he exhausted the patience of the voters, he finally concluded that the mathematical probability of winning the Republican nomination was next to nil. Why spend money and raise false hopes if you can't win? Best to get out now and join the veepstakes. That's the kind of logic that an ordinary, candidate-focused campaign employs. Ron Paul, on the other hand, refuses to drop out. Commanding a plurality of delegates in only one state, and having taken just 10.61 percent nationally so far, it could be argued that the 76-year-old libertarian has even less reason to carry on than Gingrich -- except perhaps to collect the air miles.
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Timothy Stanley says Ron Paul has gained influence, if not a nomination
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Paul's brand of libertarian Republicanism deserves GOP notice, he says
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Paul represents a message that is bigger than the candidate, Stanley says
All of this means the @placeholder can no longer ignore its libertarian "fringe."