By Dave Andrusko
Mitt Romney
In a sense it was both a surprise and inevitable that former Senator Rick Santorum suspended his candidacy today to secure the Republican nomination to face pro-abortion President Barack Obama.
Once ahead in his native Pennsylvania by 20+ points, recent polling data showed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gaining near-parity in the April 24 primary. Already very much behind in delegates, Santorum withdrew this afternoon in a press conference held in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. His departure leaves only Rep. Ron Paul, who has won no delegates, and former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is running a very much scaled back campaign and has won just two contests, still formerly in the field.
Rick Santorum
Santorum vowed to fight to defeat President Obama and help Republicans hold the House and win the Senate in the fall.
“We made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting,” Santorum said.
For his part, Romney issued a statement in which he called Santorum “an able and worthy competitor.” Santorum “has proven himself to be an important voice in our party and in the nation,” said Romney. “We both recognize that what is most important is putting the failures of the last three years behind us and setting America back on the path to prosperity.”
John Brabender, a senior Santorum strategist, told CBS News that “Santorum has spoken to Romney about leaving the race and that Romney has requested a meeting in the ‘near future.’”
Santorum’s three-year-old daughter, Bella, had taken ill on Friday, although she was released from the hospital yesterday.
Santorum said Tuesday afternoon that Bella had recovered after a “difficult weekend,” but that the situation “did cause us to think in the role that we have as parents in her life.” He added, “this was a time for prayer and thought over this past weekend,” and that the decision to suspend the campaign had been made during that period.”
1,144 delegates are needed to secure the GOP presidential nomination. Estimates vary but Romney has 645 delegates, according to CBS News. Even before Santorum’s announcement, Romney was expected to pad his delegate lead in the four other states holding primaries in two weeks—New York, Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island.
By “suspending” his campaign, rather than officially ending it, Santorum can both continue to raise money to cover any campaign debt and hold his delegates. He is estimated to have 252 delegates.
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