National Government Santorum Drops Out of GOP Primary

BRADENTON -- Rick Santorum has officially suspended his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, effectively ending his bid and seemingly clearing an unobstructed path for leading candidate Mitt Romney's ascent to the top of the ticket. While Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul remain in the race, the math for either of them to secure 1,144 delegates would seem impossible at this point.

If Santorum officially drops out and instructs his delegates to vote for Romney he will secure the nomination on the first vote at the convention, despite persistent difficulty in sewing up the nomination, despite being the frontrunner since virtually the last election. If not, Santorum's delegates would be committed to vote for him on the first vote and then free to vote otherwise if that vote did not produce a nominee.

Earlier this week, super delegates, even those who'd previously endorsed other candidates, came out to lend their voice to Romney's inevitability. This followed several weeks of endorsements from major GOP figures all hoping to avoid a brokered convention in August. With Santorum out of the race, the narrative will now shift to an Obama-Romney general election.

Ron Paul's supporters are among those who seem least likely to coalesce around a Romney nomination. While they are still urging the Congressman to stay in the race and take his delegates to the convention floor, the question of whether the Libertarian who is popular with both young voters and independents will seek to mount an independent bid.

Former candidate Gary Johnson, who dropped out of the race last December, has already accepted the Libertarian nomination and will be on the ballot in all 50 states. Speculation of a Johnson-Paul ticket has also excited members of the libertarian wing of the Republican party.