GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Rick Santorum yesterday pulled the plug on his presidential campaign, ending a long-shot bid that did better than anyone expected but ran out of steam.
His exit likely hands the GOP nomination to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who will now begin in earnest the battle against President Obama.
Santorum’s campaign was low on money and losing support from the very conservative voters that were the lifeblood of his run.
He even faced the possibility of an embarrassing defeat April 24 in his home state of Pennsylvania, although a win wouldn’t have dented Romney’s commanding lead in the race to get 1,144 delegates for the nomination.
The former US senator didn’t fully explain his decision when he announced the immediate suspension of his campaign at a small press conference at the Gettysburg Hotel.
But he did say that the hospitalization of his 3-year-old daughter, Bella, over Easter weekend contributed to the decision.
“It did pause us to think of the role we have as parents in her life and with the rest of our family,” Santorum said.
Bella, who has a rare and usually fatal genetic condition called Trisomy 18, was hospitalized Friday. It was the second time that happened during the campaign. She came home Monday.
“This was a time for prayer and thought this past weekend,” explained Santorum, a devout Catholic, whose run was fueled by evangelical and blue-collar voters.
He paid tribute to those supporters who helped him win 11 states “against all odds,” despite being hugely outspent by Romney.
The wins were “miracle after miracle,” he said.
Bowing out now likely preserves the new clout Santorum has earned in the Republican Party.
Staying in — and possibly hurting Romney’s chances against Obama — risked squandering that political capital.
Speaking in Gettysburg, Santorum also framed his run in historic proportions.
“What I tried to bring to the battle was what Abraham Lincoln brought to this battlefield back in 1863 . . . when he talked about this country being conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,” he declared.
Romney, who has savaged Santorum with attack ads, congratulated him for being an “able and worthy competitor.”
Kind words also came from the other two remaining GOP contenders, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.
Gingrich called Santorum’s success “a testament to his tenacity and the power of conservative principles.”
Paul spokesman Jesse Benton congratulated Santorum on his “spirited campaign.”