Mitt Romney surprised everyone earlier today by suspending / ending his presidential campaign. I had figured this would be coming eventually, but I didn't think it'd be so soon. I suspect that after he looked over his California results, he concluded that something just wasn't working, and decided to wait for another run in a few years. In my state of California, by the way, though he came in not very far behind McCain in the popular vote, when everything was counted up he had only won one or two congressional districts. At 3 delegates per c.d., he got maybe six out of 170 available. Given how heavily he had bet on a win here, that is just devastating.
Happily, Mitt went out in style, and with class. He made a statement by hanging it up today, before he really had to, and put pressure on Huckabee to do the same. Interesting to see how Huck responds. His speech was fantastic, in front of a friendly audience at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference. Watching Mitt speak, especially after having watched Robo-McCain deliver a speech, you see that he just plain gets it. As an experienced public speaker, I notice things like his poise, confidence, eye contact with the audience, emotion in his voice, and overall leadership ability. The guy ought to be president; I've thought so since the first time I watched him speak.
Here is the video of his speech at CPAC, courtesy of his HQ website.
Here are some choice quotes:
"Some reason that culture is merely an accessory to America's vitality. We know that it's the source of our strength. And we will not be dissuaded by the snickers and knowing glances when we stand up for family values and morality and culture. We will always be honored to stand on principle and stand for principle."
"I've found that most politicians don't seem to understand the connection between our ability to compete and our national wealth, and the wealth of our families. It's as if money 'just happens'; it just happens to be there. But every dollar represents a good or service that's been produced in the private sector. If you depress the private sector, you depress the well being of all Americans."
"Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror (the democrats). This isn't an easy decision. I hate to lose. My family...my friends ... you ... my supporters across the country ... You've given me a great deal to get me to where I have a shot to become president. If this were only about me, I'd go on. But it's never been only about me. I entered this race because I love America. And because I love America, in this time of war, I feel I now have to stand aside. For our party, and for our country."
"America must always remain -- as it's always been -- the hope of the earth."
Here is a thank-you from John Mark Reynolds, an evangelical leader (hat tip: Hugh Hewitt).
I know he's planning to take some time off after such a long and energetic campaign. But I hope he doesn't leave politics and sticks around long enough to give it another shot. If McCain would choose him for a running mate, that would be great; but I don't see that happening, considering the bad blood between them.
A lot of staunch conservatives are still bashing McCain, but I believe that fight is over, now. Just as people should no longer be arguing about whether we should have ever gone to Iraq (that debate happened 5 years ago - get over it); we should just accept that McCain is going to be the nominee, and get used to arguing against the Democrats instead. The sooner, the better.
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