The race for the Republican presidential nomination is now officially over.
Well, kind of, mostly, officially over.
Former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum announced today (Tuesday) that he was suspending his bid for the GOP nomination, essentially dropping the curtain on what has been a contentious primary campaign season. Santorum leaves the race trailing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by a count of 573-202 in the hunt for delegates. Those figures are the latest released by the Republican National Committee. (See gop.com)
However, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich said he has no plans to get out of the GOP race, basically telling Romney, "See ya in Tampa, Mitt!" Oh yeah, Texas Congressman Ron Paul is staying in the race, too.
Santorum's campaign is basically broke and he was facing a $2.9 million media blitz by Romney in his home state of Pennsylvania ahead of the April 24 primary. On top of that, recent polls showed Romney gaining ground in the Keystone State and even ahead by five points in one poll released by Public Policy Polling. Add to that the emotional strain of coping with his young daughter's illness; well, all of that may have become just too much of a burden to bear.
Santorum ran a tough race and stood on his principles. Kudos to him for that. I doubt we've heard the last of the former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania in this election cycle.
Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice .... (SuperFriends there reference for the uninitiated)
Gingrich's campaign is worse than broke -- if there is such a thing -- but he will labor on, stating that he will be at the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August to make sure that there is a conservative voice helping to shape GOP policy.
Paul has said essentially the same thing as Gingrich, with a campaign spokesman telling FoxNews.com today that Paul is "the last -- and real -- conservative alternative to Mitt Romney." Paul plans to be in Tampa, too, to "press the fight for limited, constitutional government ...".
So barring something really bizarre happening in Tampa -- say the return of Ronald Wilson Reagan -- Romney will be the GOP nominee.
But you never know ....
All right, back to reality. Now the fun (?) begins. Yeah, fun is definitely not the right word for what we will experience over the next seven months or so.
The Obama-Romney race for the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is likely to be a brutal affair. The country will be assaulted with a barrage of negative advertising the likes of which we may have never seen in American politics. And given the deep pockets each side possesses, it will be nearly impossible to escape the rushing sewer of "information" that will be unleashed between now and November.
Fun, huh?
