Mitt Romney, seen by many as the hope of conservatives dissatisfied with John McCain, announced Thursday he is quitting the presidential race.
But conservatives did not rally in large enough numbers to keep Romney, 60, a millionaire businessman and former governor of Massachusetts, from falling far behind McCain in the race for Republican delegates.
Romney made the announcement at the Conservative Political Action Convention in Washington D.C., where McCain is scheduled to speak later Thursday.
Romney said his decision was prompted by a fear that dragging out the Republican primary contest would aid Democratic frontrunners Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. That would increase the chance of a Democratic president determined to prematurely end the war in Iraq and soften U.S. resistence to terrorism, Romney said.
“If I fight on in my campaign all the way to the convention, I forestall the launch of a national campaign and frankly I’d be making it easier for Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama to win,” Romney told the audience, which reacted with groans.
“Franky in this time of war I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror. I feel I now have to stand aside for my party and my country.”
In the end, Romney faced the reality that it would be nearly impossible for him to win enough delegates in the coming weeks to secure the Republican nomination.
The results of the Super Tuesday contest were devastating for Romney, in part because the GOP uses “winner-take-all” rule in many of the delegate-rich states.
McCain emerged from Tuesday’s contest as the frontrunner and he now has 720 delegates, more than half of the 1,191 needed for the nomination. Romney won only a few states and now has 279 delegates.
Some of his potential support will likely flow to Mike Huckabee, whose victory in several Bible-belt states on Super Tuesday have brought his delegate total to 194.
Romney had tried to cast himself as the conservative alternative to McCain, whose moderate views on key issues like immigration have made it difficult for him to unite Republicans behind him.
But Romney was never able to develop mass appeal. He was mocked for being too stiff and he was accused of flip-flopping on important Republican issues like abortion and gay marriage.
