By Stephen Collinson
February 7, 2008
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican Mitt Romney quit the White House
race Thursday, after spending millions of dollars of his personal
fortune, in a move which all but handed John McCain the party's
presidential nomination.
Romney, the ex-governor of Massachusetts, suspended his bid
to emerge as conservative standard bearer in the Republican
party, after a disappointing showing in this week's Super Tuesday
nationwide nominating clash.
"This isn't an easy decision, I hate to lose," Romney
said, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, saying
he felt compelled to quit to allow McCain to battle Democratic
plans to "retreat" in the war on terror.
"Because I love America, in this time of war I feel I
have to now stand aside," Romney said, as cries of "No,
No" rang out among the thousands of activists, who had
earlier chanted "We want Mitt," "We Want Mitt."
But in the end, his attempt to overhaul McCain by igniting
the Arizona senator's conservative foes against him failed,
as former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee split the anti-McCain
vote in key state contests.
Although Romney stopped short of endorsing McCain, he praised
the former Vietnam veteran's stand on Iraq, while failing to
mention Huckabee.
Senator McCain won nine of 21 states on offer Tuesday, giving
him 720 delegates to the Republican convention, compared with
279 for Romney and 194 for Huckabee.
He needs a total of 1,191 to win the nomination.
Romney picked up the states of Massachusetts, Utah, North
Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado, Montana and Alaska, but lost out
to McCain in delegate-rich California, in the killer blow to
his campaign. By suspending his candidacy rather than dropping
out, Romney maintains control of his delegates through the
September convention.
Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, won Arkansas, West
Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia on Tuesday and also
scored a shock win in the Iowa caucuses in January.
But he has demonstrated no capacity to score wins outside
a narrow band of states, mainly in the South, where Christian
and social conservatives are dominant.
He is also viewed with suspicion by the economic and national
security wings of the conservative movement.
McCain, who now faces the task of uniting the fractured party,
was later to address the same conference as Romney, in a bid
to win over the key Republican bloc which helped usher George
W. Bush and Ronald Reagan into the White House.
Romney was forced to deny claims in his campaign that he was
a "flip-flopper" who ditched previous liberal positions
in a bid to win the backing of conservatives.
He laid out conservative pledges to cut taxes, carved out
a hard line against illegal immigration and became an outspoken
critic of gay marriage.
He also attempted to overcome suspicion among evangelical
Christians of his Mormon faith, which many consider heretical.
In early December, Romney chose to address directly the issue
of whether the United States is ready to elect its first Mormon
president.
"I am an American running for president," the 60-year-old
said. "I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A
person should not be elected because of his faith, nor should
he be rejected because of his faith."
The speech drew comparisons with the address given by John
F. Kennedy on his Roman Catholic faith during his successful
1960 bid for the presidency.
Romney pledged that the secretive leadership of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, founded in 1830 by American
pioneer Joseph Smith, would not hold any sway over his administration
if he were elected.
A Boston venture capitalist and founder of a management consultancy,
Romney first entered politics in 1994 when he unsuccessfully
stood against prominent Democrat Ted Kennedy for Massachusetts
senator.
In 1999, he was brought in to rescue the 2002 Winter Olympics
in Salt Lake City, which had become mired in scandal, and put
on a highly successful event.
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