Mitt Romney's last stand
By: Jonathan Martin
February 2, 2008 10:32 PM EST

Mitt Romney’s campaign aides know that time and perception are conspiring against them. But they say that there is a path on Super Tuesday that will at least keep them in the race.

Romney’s political survival hangs on two interconnected factors.

First, and perhaps most important, is fear of John McCain.

The very real threat of the wayward Arizona senator winning the GOP nomination is finally dawning on influential conservatives.

Talk radio hosts, in particular, are manning the broadcast barricades in a last-ditch effort to block the coronation of a man they view as little more than a Democratic collaborator.

Rush Limbaugh, of course, is the loudest voice in this opinionated chorus.

He’s been joined this past week by increasingly fretful media colleagues such as Laura Ingraham, and Sean Hannity.

Ingraham and Hannity said outright they are supporting Romney.

“The fact that you have [these conservatives] speaking out demonstrates that people are now perceiving this as a two-man race,â€