Mitt Romney ended his presidential campaign today,
telling the Conservative Political Action Conference:
"If I fight on in my campaign, all the
way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national
campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my
campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."
"This is not an easy decision
for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters --
many of you right here in this room -- have given a great deal to get
me where I have a shot at becoming President. If this were only about
me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and
because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party
and for our country."
The development leaves conservative voters with little choice.
The Washington Post pointed out
in a story that ran before the announcement:
The GOP race becomes a weekly handful of small to mid-size primaries and caucuses, beginning Saturday in Kansas, Louisiana and Washington state, and continuing with "Potomac Primary" contests in Maryland, Virginia and the District on Tuesday.
(Sen. John) McCain is seeking to establish the inevitability of his candidacy by
continuing to win contests and accumulate delegates. At the same time,
his advisers are pushing the idea that Romney and (former Arkansas Gov. Mike) Huckabee have no
chance.
McCain won nine of the 21 states that held GOP contests Tuesday, including California and New York,
to seven for Romney and five for Huckabee, while gaining a huge lead in
delegates. As of last night, McCain had 703 out of the 1,191 delegates
needed to win the nomination. Romney had 310, Huckabee had 190 and Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) had 14.
On Sunday, Romney had warned that the Republican Party, with McCain as the nominee, would look a lot like the Democrats. He said in a news release:
"Well, I think the answer is that you make sure as you go across the
country that you build the support among the base of our party, to
remind them that this is a battle in some respects for the heart and
soul of the Republican Party. Frankly, if we want a party that is
indistinguishable from Hillary Clinton on an issue like illegal
immigration, that we're going to have John McCain as a nominee, that's
the wrong way to go."
