Romney Suspends Presidential Campaign

After Disappointing Super Tuesday, Former Mass. Gov. Bows Out

(CBS/AP)  John McCain effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday as chief rival Mitt Romney suspended his faltering campaign. "I must now stand aside, for our party and our country," Romney told conservatives.

"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 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 told the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

Romney's decision leaves McCain as the top man standing in the GOP race, with Mike Huckabee and Texas Rep. Ron Paul far behind in the delegate hunt. It was a remarkable turnaround for McCain, who some seven months ago was barely viable, out of cash and losing staff. The four-term Arizona senator, denied his party's nomination in 2000, was poised to succeed George W. Bush as the GOP standard-bearer.

McCain and Romney spoke by phone after Romney's speech, though no endorsement was requested nor offered, according to a Republican official with knowledge of the conversation.

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.

McCain took the big prizes of New York and California.

Romney met with senior staffers yesterday morning to go over his options, Romney press secretary Eric Fehrnstrom told CBS News. He then went to an “all-staff meeting” where he received cheers from his staff and was encouraged to continue his run. He subsequently went home to Belmont to write the speech he delivered today. It was then he decided to suspend his campaign.

Romney's exit was a surprise to his supporters and staffers, reports CBS News' Scott Conroy. Minutes before Romney suspended his campaign, staffers were still hanging campaign signs and balloons in the ballroom. Most staffers were not told of his decision until just before Romney took the stage this afternoon.

"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," Romney said.

There were shouts of astonishment, with some moans and others yelling, "No, No."

Romney responded, "You guys are great."

McCain prevailed in most of the Super Tuesday states, moving closer to the numbers needed to officially win the nomination. CBS News estimates that McCain now has 699 delegates, Huckabee has 162, and Romney has 157. It takes 1,191 to win the nomination at this summer's convention in St. Paul, Minn.

By suspending his campaign, Romney holds onto his delegates, at least until the party convention this summer.

Romney claimed he was the true conservative in the race while McCain has been criticized by some on the right. McCain acknowledged the rocky relationship.

"I am acutely aware that I cannot succeed in that endeavor, nor can our party prevail over the challenge we will face from either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama, without the support of dedicated conservatives," McCain said in prepared remarks to the same conference.

Romney acknowledged the obstacles to beating McCain.

"As of today, more than 4 million people have given me their vote for president, that's of course, less than Senator McCain's 4.7 million, but quite a statement nonetheless. Eleven states have given me their nod, compared to his 13. Of course, because size does matter, he's doing quite a bit better with the number of delegates he's got," Romney said.

"The odds against Romney picking up enough delegates to win the Republican nomination grew exponentially after Tuesday night and that math became obvious," said CBSNews.com Senior Political Editor Vaughn Ververs. "Doing this on the day both he and McCain are speaking at a premier conference of conservative activists represents an olive branch of sorts to McCain, helping clear the field for healing to begin between the Arizona senator and his conservative critics."

The Huckabee campaign said the former Arkansas governor would push on.

"We're still in the race and we're still competing for delegates, and today demonstrates how long and windy to the White House this is," said Chip Saltsman, Huckabee's campaign manager.

Romney's departure from the race came almost a year after his formal entrance, when the Michigan native declared his candidacy on Feb. 12, 2007, at the Henry Ford Museum of Innovation in Dearborn, Mich.

Over the ensuing 12 months, Romney sought the support of conservatives with a family values campaign, emphasizing his opposition to abortion and gay marriage, as well as his support for tax cuts and health insurance that would benefit middle-class families.

"We need to teach our children that before they have babies, they get married," he told voters at his campaign events.

But he was dogged by charges of flip-flopping, a criticism that undermined the candidacy of another Massachusetts hopeful - John Kerry in 2004. In seeking to unseat Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in 1994, Romney said he would be a better advocate for gay rights than his rival and he favored abortion rights.