UPDATE II:
Fox’s Greta Van Susteren web site confirms what many expected egomaniac Gingrich’s reaction would be to Santorum suspending his campaign:
“I am committed to staying in this race all the way to Tampa so that the conservative movement has a real choice. I humbly ask Senator Santorum’s supporters to visit Newt.org to review my conservative record and join us as we bring these values to Tampa. We know well that only a conservative can protect life, defend the Constitution, restore jobs and growth and return to a balanced budget.”
Yes, Mr. Gingrich, we know that you know that you are the only conservative who can do all those marvelous things for America. It is a real shame, however, that very few in America think so.
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UPDATE I:
Rick Santorum has now officially suspended his presidential campaign.
The New York Times:
“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.
Mr. Santorum made the announcement at a stop in his home state of Pennsylvania after a weekend in which he tended to his three-year-old daughter, Bella, who had been hospitalized with pneumonia.
Mr. Santorum, who was holding back tears, did not exactly specify why he was ending his presidential bid. He referred to his daughter Bella’s illness, but said she was making great progress and was back home after being hospitalized over the weekend.
Read more here
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Reports are circulating that Rick Santorum is suspending his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, “bowing to the inevitability of Mitt Romney’s nomination and ending his improbable, come-from-behind quest to become the party’s conservative standard-bearer in the fall,” according to the New York Times.
While I have been highly critical of Santorum in his bid for the GOP presidential nomination, I respect his decision — for whatever reason.
Whether he is ending his quest for the nomination because of personal reasons, such as perhaps, sadly, the medical condition of his three-year-old daughter, Bella, or because he sees the inevitability of the nomination of his main rival, Mitt Romney, or for similar reasons, he should earn the respect of both his party and his followers, unlike the other GOP wannabe, Newt Gingrich, who — in the minds of many Americans — is persisting in his folly solely for self-centered reasons under the guise of wanting to influence his party’s platform at the Tampa convention.
Santorum’s decision could also, as the Times says
[C]lear the way for Mr. Santorum to play a bigger role — and have a potentially bigger voice — in Mr. Romney’s campaign and perhaps in a Romney administration.
Probably, unlike what is in store for Mr. Gingrich.
Read more here.
