WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney suspended his faltering presidential campaign Thursday, effectively paving the way for John McCain to seal the Republican presidential nomination. "I must now stand aside, for our party and our country," Romney said.
Reader poll
What does Mitt Romney's decision mean for Mike Huckabee?
- Absolutely nothing John McCain's got it in the bag
- Huckabee's right it's a two-man race, so he still has a chance
- It's still so cloudy - Romney could come back into the mix at the convention
10 total votes.
"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 (Barack) Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror," Romney planned to say in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference.
"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."
McCain prevailed in most of the Super Tuesday states, moving closer to the numbers needed to officially win the nomination.
Romney launched his campaign almost a year ago in his native Michigan. The former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist invested more than $40 million of his own money into the race, counted on early wins in Iowa and New Hampshire that never materialized and won just seven states on Super Tuesday, mostly small caucus states.
Huckabee said he planned to stay in the contest.
"This is a two-man race for the nomination, and I am committed to marching on," he said in a statement. "As a true authentic, consistent, conservative, I have a vision to bring hope, opportunity and prosperity to all Americans, and I'd like to ask for and welcome the support of those who had previously been committed to Mitt."
The status of Romney's delegates isn't settled. Each state party organization sets its own rules regarding pledged delegates, and in some cases the delegates aren't bound until local conventions later in the year, according to documents published by the Republican National Committee. It also will depend on decisions Romney makes before the convention opens Sept. 1, such as whether to throw his support to another candidate.
Campaign spokesman Kevin Madden didn't respond to e-mails requesting comment on the delegate status.
In his speech to CPAC, an annual gathering of students, activists and policy makers, Romney noted that he disagrees with McCain "on a number of issues." Their main area of agreement, he said, is continuing the U.S. military effort in Iraq and prosecuting the war on terror.
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Information for this article was contributed by Bloomberg News and The Associated Press.