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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