Romney’s Brain Trust Reportedly Advises Quitting the Race
Mitt Romney is expected to end his presidential bid during a speech this afternoon.
Apparently he agrees with Charlie Black’s math.
AND
The Caucus Blog of The New York Times:
Mitt Romney is quitting his campaign for president, having made the final decision last night, according to a campaign source who asked to remain anonymous.
He made the final decision last night, as he was preparing his speech for Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, the source said.
“The speech will speak for itself,” the source said.
“It’s virtually impossible for Romney or Huckabee to be the nominee just based on the arithmetic.”
– McCain adviser Charlie Black, quoted by NBC News, noting that McCain has 775 delegates, Romney had 284 and Huckabee has 205.
Added Black: “It takes 1,191 to clinch the nomination. There are 963 left to be chosen, so Romney or Huckabee would have to have all of them — all of them — to get to 1,191. Now you can’t do that because a majority of those 963 are chosen in proportional primaries, which means you’d have to get 100% if the vote to get them all.”
Outside the Beltway (via Newsweek’s The Ruckus) speculated on this yesterday:
CNN’s John King and Dana Bash suggest that Mitt Romney may be ready to drop his White House bid. Mitt Romney and top aides
and advisers plan to huddle Wednesday to discuss the future of his campaign, including whether to launch an advertising buy in upcoming primary states. Romney vowed late Tuesday to press on, though top advisers acknowledged the delegate match was daunting.
I think “match” should read “math.”
