[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHvMFV6AhE0]
Newt Gingrich announced the suspension of his campaign on Wednesday in Arlington, Virginia.
With his family by his side, Gingrich expressed his gratitude for his family, staff, donors and former fellow GOP presidential contenders Texas Governor Rick Perry and businessman Herman Cain.
“Today I am suspending the campaign, suspending the campaign does not mean suspending citizenship; Callista and I are committed to being active citizens,” Gingrich said. “We owe it to America and we owe it to Maggie and Robert.”
Despite ending his campaign Gingrich said, “We’re now going to put down the role of candidate an candidate spouse and take back the role of active citizens.”
During the speech Gingrich expressed his commitment in the roles of American exceptionalism, religious liberty, American energy independence, re-emphasis of the work ethic and personal social security accounts for the younger generation.
Gingrich acknowledged President Obama’s surprise trip to Kabul on Tuesday and commented, “It was nice of the president to broadcast from Afghanistan, but the center of Al Qaeda today is in Yemen. I’m not sure if the White House has given that briefing yet, but they will eventually.” Newt also made light of the speech and joked about his moon colony statement during the earlier debates.
Although Gingrich didn’t officially endorse former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination, he said that “(t)his is not a choice between Mitt Romney and Ronald Reagan, this is a choice between Mitt Romney and the most radical leftist president in American history.”
Newt also compared the gap between Romney and Obama to be larger than the gap between Reagan and Jimmy Carter.
Overall the speech conveyed a message of hope that the Republican Party can win the 2012 elections.
After the announcement of Gingrich’s suspension, Romney sent out a press release hailing Gingrich and hinted that Gingrich would soon join him on the campaign trail for an official endorsement.
Gingrich’s campaign is reportedly $4 million in debt. Romney and Gingrich have discussed working together to fundraise and pay off the Gingrich campaign’s debt. Expect to see a Romney-Gingrich reunion on the books soon.
