GETTYSBURG, Pa.—Rick Santorum abruptly suspended his White House campaign Tuesday, clearing the way for front-runner Mitt Romney to claim the Republican presidential nomination.
The former Pennsylvania senator made the announcement at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Santorum significantly lagged Mr. Romney in the nominating contest and faced an increasingly hard challenge in winning the GOP primary in his home state of Pennsylvania, which votes later this month.
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Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum
.The announcement came a day after Mr. Santorum's 3-year-old daughter Bella was released from the hospital after contracting pneumonia. Bella Santorum has a rare, chromosomal disorder that can make such illnesses life-threatening.
Mr. Santorum was the last viable challenger to Mr. Romney, and his decision to exit the race marks the unofficial end of the Republicans' months-long, highly combative primary. Mr. Romney has yet to gather the 1,144 convention delegates needed to win the nomination, but it is unlikely that the remaining challengers, Newt Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul, can prevent him from doing so.
Despite the long odds facing his campaign, Mr. Santorum had promised to stay in the race until Pennsylvania's April 24th primary, but polls show his support in the state sagging, and Mr. Romney promised to outspend him significantly on television ads in the state.
Until his exit from the field, Mr. Santorum had claimed the mantle as the top conservative alternative to Mr. Romney.

time to fight for the America we love.
How many trillion dollar deficits before Obama (220 years)= zero
how many trillion dollar deficits with Obama---4 trillion.
not Woot


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