WASHINGTON, April 10, 2012 — Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum dropped out of the Republican primary today during a news conference held in Gettysburg, Pa., citing a family meeting at their home this Easter weekend to make the decision to suspend the campaign.
While he gave no specific reason for his decision, the polls showed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney leading him in Pennsylvania, Santorum’s home state, by as much as five points.
He had just put his campaign on hiatus, to be at the bedside of his 3-year-old daughter, Bella, who had been hospitalized last Friday with pneumonia. She has since been released. Bella, who has a rare genetic deformity, Trisomy 18, is susceptible to pneumonia and Santorum had to suspend his campaign in January when the little girl fell ill.
But the handwriting has been on the wall ever since Santorum lost Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago. Still, he felt that he could make a stand in Pennsylvania. Then came the polling that showed that he was in trouble in his home state as well. If he couldn’t make it there, how could he make it anywhere? After all, Romney won his home state of Michigan (or one of his home states, depending on where he has a house) and Newt Gingrich won Georgia, which used to be his home state until he decamped to Virginia.
Add to that, Santorum was being outspent $2 million to nothing on ads, which meant that his well was running dry.
Then there were the calls from GOP party leaders to drop out and stop being a drag on the race. Obviously, their sage advice fell on deaf ears when it came to Newt Gingrich, who follows his own “inner wisdom,” and Congressman Ron Paul, who marches to a different drummer.
But for Santorum, it may have finally made sense in face of the overwhelming odds and family pressures.
By suspending his campaign and not ending it, Santorum can keep the delegates he has won in the eleven primary states at the Republican convention, releasing them as he sees fit for another candidate. While he has not given his endorsement to Romney, it is known that the two spoke shortly before today’s press conference. And Romney had suspended his ads in Pennsylvania against Santorum when he had to interrupt his campaign due to his daughter’s health.
Back in December 2011, Santorum was at the bottom of the heap with only 3% of Republicans saying they would vote him for him, according to NBC. Then came the January/February surge. For awhile it looked like his social conservative messages of anti-gay and anti-contraception would carry the day, even forcing Romney to veer even further Right. But the campaign then ran out of steam in the heartland.
Santorum said at his press conference that while “The race is over for me, I am not done fighting…We need leaders to believe in America’s greatness. I will continue to work to defeat Obama.” Saying that he had been a voice for the voiceless in this country, Santorum recounted that he had been asked how he came from nowhere and did so well. “I was a witness, an interpreter of your voice. Miracles can happen.”
Told that he couldn’t win, and now that it is true, he counters that “We were winning in a very different way. We touched people.”
Later today, Santorum will be at the American Heartland Forum with Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman emeritus of Focus on the Family. Expect Santorum to continue those themes. But also look to see, now he is no longer harnessed to the campaign, whether he doesn’t take the gloves off and come out swinging.
This is probably the first step in Rick Santorum’s presidential campaign in 2016.
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