Jon Huntsman Jr. fallout: 5 lingering questions after the surprise decision to bow out now

Jon Huntsman Jr. could have ended his presidential candidacy after the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 10, or he could have waited until the South Carolina primary on Jan. 21. Instead, Huntsman surprised everybody with the timing of his Monday announcement that he is dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, effective immediately.

After Huntsman's press conference at the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Convention Center — the same place where Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry will debate tonight — several questions were left lingering in the air

Why withdraw now?

From the New York Times' The Caucus blog: "Mr. Huntsman's aides said he made the decision to drop out after he had come to believe that he would only be playing the role of spoiler in Saturday's primary here. He does not believe, aides said, that a protracted battle between Mr. Romney and a more conservative alternative would be helpful to the party in its ultimate goal of defeating Mr. Obama in the fall."

Who stands to benefit most from Huntsman's departure?

Almost certainly Mitt Romney, both because of Huntsman's decision to endorse Mitt and the fact that most people who preferred Huntsman had Romney as their second choice.

Nate Silver of the FiveThirtyEight blog wrote Sunday night that Huntsman's withdrawal "should provide a small but helpful boost to the man he plans to endorse, Mitt Romney. Although Mr. Huntsman had relatively little support in the polls outside of New Hampshire, recent surveys suggested that the plurality of his supporters had Mr. Romney as their second choice."

Which candidate will be next out the door?

Most likely Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who already came oh-so-close to terminating his candidacy less than two weeks ago.

Molly Ball at The Atlantic reported Monday, "Perry appeared to have gotten the message after his fifth-place finish in Iowa, saying in his concession that night that he would go back to Texas and reassess his campaign. But he woke up the next morning determined to continue, surprising his own staff by announcing on Twitter he was headed to South Carolina. Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, Perry received less than 1 percent of the vote. Though his debate performances have improved from their dark nadir, his attacks on Romney's business credentials as 'vulture capitalism' have not appeared to resonate with South Carolina Republicans."

What happens to the money left in the pro-Huntsman super PAC?