Mitt Romney dropped out of the Republican presidential race yesterday, effectively ceding the nomination to John McCain after a campaign in which he spent more than $35 million (£17.5 million) of his personal fortune.

Mr Romney announced his decision to the biggest annual gathering of conservatives in America, a conference where Mr McCain also appeared to try to quell a fierce revolt by the Republican Right against what now appears to be his inevitable nomination.

After suffering a string of big losses on Super Tuesday to Mr McCain, and across the South to Mike Huckabee, Mr Romney decided to quit after advisers told him that it was virtually impossible to claw his way back.

“This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose,” Mr Romney told the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference in Washington, a vast gathering of conservative activists, leaders and intellectuals. In a sign of how many viewed him as their only hope of avoiding a McCain nomination, Mr Romney’s announcement was greeted with shouts of astonishment and several howls of “No! No!”. Mr Romney said that a long battle would damage Republican chances of winning November’s general election. “I must now stand aside, for our party and our country,” he said.

The first key question left unanswered by his withdrawal is whether he will now endorse Mr McCain, a man with whom he shares a mutual and very public contempt. Ronald Reagan backed Gerald Ford in 1976 after he lost their primary battle, and Mr McCain – albeit through gritted teeth – endorsed George Bush after their brutal nominating contest in 2000.

Mr McCain, savouring almost certain victory after being written off six months ago, ventured into the “lion’s den” of the CPAC, which he snubbed last year and where he was booed by a minority, an extraordinary reaction for a crowd listening to their party’s presumptive nominee.

Mr McCain reached out to Mr Romney’s supporters. He called his rival a “great governor”. He said that they had spoken and “we agreed it is important to unite our party”. He added: “Many of you disagreed with some positions I have taken. I respect that. Even if you believe I have occasionally erred in my reasoning as a fellow conservative . . . I have, in many ways important to all of us, maintained the record of a conservative.”

Mr Romney, a former venture capitalist turned politician, who was seeking to become America’s first Mormon president, faced a series of challenges when he announced his White House bid last year, not least his moderate views on abortion, guns and gay rights he espoused when Governor of liberal leaning Massachusetts.

As recently as three years ago Mr Romney was pro-abortion but entered the race as a fierce social conservative, having changed tack on every issue dear to the Religious Right. His willingness to shift his message allowed his rivals to ridicule him as an opportunistic flip-flopper.

He was also dogged by the question of his Mormonism. His religion, combined with doubts about his conservative bona fides, allowed Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist preacher, to win Iowa unexpectedly on the back of evangelical support.

Mr Romney’s plan was to win the early contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, a classic momentum-building strategy – backed by his $250 million personal fortune – that could have worked had it not been for Mr Huckabee’s surprise victory. Defeat in Iowa left the former Massachusetts Governor badly wounded heading into New Hampshire five days later, where a resurgent Mr McCain beat him. Mr Romney never fully recovered. Despite big Super Tuesday wins which put him in sight of victory Mr McCain failed to win any Southern states. The losses came amid fierce dissent from many conservatives, led by radio talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh. Some are declaring that they would rather lose to Hillary Clinton than see the Arizona senator win.

Mr McCain is anathema to many on the Right because of his willingness to buck party orthodoxy and work with Democrats on issues such as immigration, global warming, and curbing big business. Yet he has been consistently antiabortion, and is a national security hawk, issues on which he was due to focus in a speech peppered with references to Ronald Reagan.

Yet one of his greatest strengths lies in his reputation for authenticity, the heart of his appeal to moderates and independents, his core constituency. They will be key to Mr McCain in the election. If he is seen as pandering too much to conservatives, he risks alienating the centre.

Fallen hopefuls

Rudi Giuliani Republican: dropped out January 30 with no delegates. Long expected to join Hillary Clinton in the final race for the White House, Mr Giuliani’s campaign never lived up to its promise. He had raised $60m by the start of 2008

John Edwards Democrat: dropped out January 30 with 26 delegates. He survived the first round of the competition but failed to establish himself as a serious challenger to Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama. The $44m raised by his campaign fell short of the $100m plus raised by the frontrunners

Fred Thompson Republican: dropped out January 22 with no delegates. Though some expected the quirky ex-actor could be a dark horse and he raised more than $20m, Thompson’s unwillingness to stick to the gruelling schedule demanded by a presidential campaign sapped his support

Bill Richardson Democrat: dropped out January 10 with no delegates. A string of disappointing fourth places ended the New Mexico Governor’s hopes. With funds of around $20m he could not compete with Democrat big guns

Joe Biden Democrat: dropped out January 3 with no delegates. Despite the Democratic establishment’s respect for the veteran senator, the Iowa caucus decapitated his campaign early

Source: Times archives

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