Quitting race may help Romney run a future one

PHILADELPHIA — The decision by Mitt Romney to suspend his presidential campaign all but ends the race in the Republican Party and makes John McCain its presumptive nominee.

Romney left the race for a number of reasons, one of which was to keep his future options open. Had he refused to accept the seeming inevitability of McCain's nomination, he risked dimming his prospects for another candidacy.

Romney spent more than $40 million of his own money on his campaign, as much as any major-party candidate has ever spent. Some of his backers said they already are looking to future elections, contending he still could be president.

"Absolutely," said Romney supporter Kirk Jowers, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. "Republicans love to take kind of the next person in line. That was true with [President] Reagan, [former Kansas Sen. Bob] Dole and now McCain. I think most people would consider Romney next in line, whether it's 2012 if a Democrat wins in 2008 or perhaps 2016 if Senator McCain wins."

Romney, 60, a former Massachusetts governor, announced his departure Thursday during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. There was some irony in the choice of venue, since Romney tried — and failed — to make himself the conservative standard-bearer.

Romney said staying in the race would serve only to prolong the GOP contest and make a Democratic victory in the fall more likely.

"If this were only about me, I would go on," he said. "But it's never been only about me. I entered this race because I love America. And because I love America, in this time of war, I feel I have to now stand aside, for our party and for our country."

Romney, who did not endorse anyone Thursday, said that a Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama presidency was not acceptable. "I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror," he said.

McCain, speaking to the same group several hours later, congratulated Romney on running "an energetic and dedicated" campaign.

"We agreed to sit down together, and we agreed on the importance of uniting our party," McCain said.

The other two candidates — former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Texas Rep. Ron Paul — indicated they would stay in the race.

"This is a two-man race for the nomination, and I am committed to marching on," Huckabee said. But Huckabee and Paul are far behind in the delegate count and have little chance of blocking McCain.

Overall, McCain leads with 693 delegates, to 294 for Romney, 195 for Huckabee and 14 for Paul. To win the nomination, 1,191 delegates are needed.

Romney suspended his campaign, allowing him to hold onto his delegates. However, if McCain secures their support — combined with his own delegates — he would be nearly at the magic number and Huckabee would be mathematically eliminated. It is unlikely Romney would throw his support to Huckabee; the animosity between the two has pervaded the GOP race.

Huckabee is a populist outsider with strong appeal to Christian conservatives but almost no support among nonreligious voters, no money to wage the kind of campaign it would take to reach them, and no friends on the party's talk-radio and TV circuit to help him rally disaffected conservatives.

"The contest for the GOP presidential nomination is over," said conservative blogger Michelle Malkin. "The conservative movement is not."

One of the main reasons Romney failed in his quest was his inability to convince voters who consider themselves conservatives first and Republicans second — particularly those who care most about social issues — that he, not Huckabee, should be their man.

A central reason for the failure was that Romney hadn't always sounded or acted like a conservative.

In 1994, in a Senate race in Massachusetts, he campaigned as a relatively liberal Republican. From 2003 through 2006, as governor, he was seen as a pragmatic problem-solver.

Along the way, he switched from favoring abortion rights to opposing abortion rights and altered his views on immigration and other matters, allowing foes to characterize him as a flip-flopper.

At one point, McCain said Romney had been "entirely consistent. He's consistently taken at least two sides of every issue."

During the debates, all of Romney's Republican rivals seemed to take special delight in going after him.

At the outset, Romney, thanks to his fundraising prowess and his willingness to tap his personal wealth, was a dominant presence.

He ran an early-state strategy, hoping to win in Iowa and New Hampshire. He led in those two states for most of 2007.

But Huckabee caught Romney in Iowa, largely on the support of social conservatives. Then McCain caught him in New Hampshire.

Romney's second-place finishes in those two states were the unmaking of his strategy, although he gained new life Jan. 15 by winning in Michigan.

Two weeks later, though, he lost in Florida, severely diminishing his chances.

He hung on through Super Tuesday. He was energized by polls showing him gaining in California, by conservative talk-show hosts who were desperate to stop McCain, and by the increasing focus of the electorate on economic issues, which he thought worked to his benefit.

As a successful businessman, Romney often said: "Senator McCain says the economy is not his strong suit. Well, it is my strong suit."

He won seven states Tuesday but lost California, the one he needed.

At the conservative conference Thursday, Romney upstaged McCain, who had some fence-mending to do.

Over the years, the Arizona senator has broken ranks with conservatives on a number of issues, such as tax cuts and campaign-finance change; many movement leaders distrust him.

McCain, who received a reception that ranged from polite to enthusiastic, was jeered at one point when he talked about his position on immigration overhaul.

"We have had a few disagreements, and none of us will pretend that we won't continue to have a few," McCain told the crowd. "But even in disagreement, especially in disagreement, I will seek the counsel of my fellow conservatives."

Material from McClatchy Newspapers and The Associated Press is included in this report.