Wow, I *totally* didn’t see this coming.
Jon Huntsman will drop out of the Republican presidential race on Monday, a campaign spokesman told ABC News.
A source close to the Huntsman campaign said the former ambassador to China and Utah governor was “proud of the race that he ran” but “did not want to stand in the way” of rival Mitt Romney, the current front-runner for the Republican nomination.
Huntsman plans to endorse Romney at an 11 a.m. press conference Monday in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
After a disappointing third place finish in New Hampshire — a contest on which he had staked his candidacy — Huntsman vowed to fight on. In his concession speech in New Hampshire, he told his supporters: “I say third place is a ticket to ride, ladies and gentleman! Hello, South Carolina!”
He evidently didn’t want to get in the way of the coronation that the establishment and media has been telling us about. I’m so disappointed that we won’t see him in Monday’s debate. Maybe Romney will dispatch him to Gaffney to smooth things over. Perhaps he can even send him with a little money to help out the unemployed there as well.
One lesson that I wish Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich would take from Huntsman is that their continued presence in the race only helps Romney.
Shane Vander Hart
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I know what you mean about being shocked. I mean, I couldn’t be any more stunned if the sun came up tomorrow morning! 😉
The former ambassador to China and Utah governor was “proud of the race that he ran” but “did not want to stand in the way” of rival Mitt Romney, the current front-runner for the Republican nomination.
Translation:
Moneybags, er, Mitt, made me an offer that I just couldn’t refuse.
and
Mitt, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom! 😉
Re: your closing sentence. Actually, Newt Gingrich – not Rick Santorum – is the only conservative alternative to Romney who has the financial resources to take him on,
You mean the Super PAC supporting him does, his campaign doesn’t. His primary problem is that he doesn’t have momentum, and his round of negative ads seem to be falling flat.