(Brian Synder/Reuters)

(Brian Synder/Reuters)

The Virginia Republican, who has endorsed Romney, calls the former Massachusetts governor the man who has "outperformed all the other candidates." He says, "You're seeing an increasing flow toward Mitt Romney."

Eric Cantor is half right Mitt Romney is outperforming the other candidates—but that's only because Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich are dividing the Republican vote, allowing Romney to win a majority of delegates despite only winning a plurality of the popular vote.

But Cantor's second statement—that we're "seeing an increasing flow toward Mitt Romney"—is empirically false.

Take a look at the popular vote totals before Super Tuesday:



Before Super Tuesday (including Missouri):

Romney: 40.7% (1,853,823 votes)

Santorum: 24.1% (1,098,497 votes)

Gingrich: 21.7% (990,544 votes)

On Super Tuesday:

Romney: 37.9% (1,389,555 votes)

Santorum: 27.0% (989,520 votes)

Gingrich: 22.6% (829,169 votes)

Now take a look at the popular vote totals from Super Tuesday, as of Wednesday morning:So on Super Tuesday, Romney's share of the vote dropped by 2.8 percent from what it had been while Santorum's grew by 2.9 percent and Gingrich's grew by 0.9 percent. The point is obvious: while he may have mastered the delegate rules on Super Tuesday, Mitt Romney was unable to expand his support.

Moreover, these numbers include the results in Virginia, where neither Rick Santorum nor Newt Gingrich were allowed on the ballot. Take a look at the numbers without Virginia:



On Super Tuesday (excluding Virginia):

Romney: 36.2% (1,231,505 votes)

Santorum: 29.1% (989,520 votes)

Gingrich: 24.4% (829,169 votes)

So when you factor our Virginia, Romney lost 4.5 percent, Santorum gained 5 percent, and Gingrich gained 2.7 percent.

Despite those numbers, it's obvious that Romney is still in the lead, and his ability to win delegates is stronger than his ability to win votes—and delegates are what count. But he's not consolidating the Republican base—and in fact on Super Tuesday the combined support of his two rivals topped 50 percent. So while he might be winning, he's also getting weaker.