Santorum Quits Race, Clearing a Path for Romney
GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Rick Santorum, with an abrupt decision to end his campaign Tuesday, cleared the way for Mitt Romney to claim the Republican nomination while dashing the hopes of social conservatives who had propelled Mr. Santorum’s surprisingly successful challenge to the Republican establishment.
Mr. Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, was trailing Mr. Romney in delegates and had little hope of catching up to him, but his strong performance in a brutal nominating contest established him as a force that the party will probably have to reckon with this presidential election year and beyond.
His departure from the race created an anticlimactic moment in the long presidential primary season for Mr. Romney, who has been actively seeking his party’s nomination for five years and found his conservative credentials constantly in question by the durability of Mr. Santorum’s candidacy. The move springs Mr. Romney from a political limbo in which he was acting like the nominee even though he faced the prospect of weeks of hard — and expensive — campaigning against Mr. Santorum.
In a hastily called 12-minute speech in a small hotel meeting room here, with his wife, Karen, and four of their seven children at their side, Mr. Santorum said his campaign was over but made it clear that any retreat from the political stage would be only temporary.
“We made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over, for me, and we will suspend our campaign today, we are not done fighting,” Mr. Santorum said as tears welled in the reddened eyes of his wife and the aides and friends who ringed the room. He did not mention Mr. Romney.
“This game is a long, long, long way from over,” he added. He could have been referring to the fall election or to his own future as a voice for the conservative base of his party and perhaps as a future candidate for president. In one immediate sign of his continuing involvement, he kept a speaking engagement in Lancaster, Pa., on Tuesday night with James C. Dobson and other evangelical supporters.
Mr. Romney, appearing in Wilmington, Del., praised his former rival for having made “an important contribution to the political process.”
“This has been a good day for me,” Mr. Romney said. “Senator Santorum has decided not to proceed with his campaign, and I had the chance to speak with him this morning. We exchanged our thoughts about going forward, and we both have a great deal of interest in seeing the country taken on a very different path.”
Mr. Santorum’s withdrawal cleared the way for Republicans to rally around Mr. Romney, and three prominent conservatives, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Gov. Rick Scott of Florida and Senator Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania, declared their support for him within hours.
Romney aides immediately went to work canceling what they expected would be a $2.9 million advertising campaign in Pennsylvania, a huge savings equivalent to roughly 40 percent of the cash Mr. Romney had on hand at the end of February.
Conservative leaders praised Mr. Santorum’s decision and his campaign that brought their issues to the fore. But they raised doubts that Mr. Romney could convert their flock.
“I just think it’s going to be a much harder lift to take someone who seems like a moderate and try to get conservatives excited about it,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.
Richard Viguerie, a veteran conservative activist who became a close supporter of Mr. Santorum, said Mr. Romney would have to work hard at winning many others over, especially after such a hard-fought campaign. “After having destroyed every conservative that came on the scene,” he said, “you can’t say ‘You have to line up behind me.’ No, no, no. Conservatives are not going to jump until they hear where Governor Romney wants to take everybody.”
