Though Mitt Romney and Rick Perry have had an often bitter rivalry over the past few months — and Romney challenging Perry to a $10,000 bet during Saturday’s debate added more fuel to this conflict — ironically, Perry could play a key role in Romney’s efforts to thwart Newt Gingrich.

Given that 75-80 percent of the GOP electorate has consistently favored somebody other than Romney, his chances of winning the nomination have always hinged on conservatives having difficulty settling on any one alternative, carving up the vote, and allowing Romney to sneak through kind of like Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, did in 2008.