A blog for The Chronicle to cover the 2008 presidential election, of which Hofstra University plays a unique part as host of one of the presidential debates. Students will cover the election in real time.

February 7, 2008

OPINION: The End for Romney

By Akeem Mellis

WASHINGTON--Today, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gave one of the better speeches conservatives have heard in a while. He defended the essence of conservatism and gave conservatives the best possible reason to choose him over Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

It’s a shame, however, that Romney then proceeded to capitulate in the face of unfavorable odds and ended the candidacy of the Republican party’s last and best hope to deny McCain the party’s nomination.

As an attendee to this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, I watched Romney’s speech on site with rapt attention, joining other conservatives in the hopes that Romney would repeat what he did last year at the Conference, and start a spark among Republicans that can somehow restart and rejuvenate his campaign in the wake of Super Tuesday.

For a while, the speech Romney delivered today sounded like something that could do exactly that. He touched on familiar and time tested themes, like ensuring that America’s culture is preserved in the face of what Democrats would want to do.

And that was just to chip away at Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s supporters on the religious right. He then brilliantly pounded home his economic prowess, a key asset that neither Huckabee nor McCain has in the face of looming economic troubles.

Finally, he stood up to McCain’s strength on national security by illustrating how strong he would be on terror and keeping America on the offensive against terrorists. The person conservatives have flocked to as the only true conservative left in the primary showed them why they were right to support him.

This made his announcement immediately thereafter that he would withdraw from the race even more painful to watch and digest. A not-so successful Super Tuesday fueled today’s stunning end to his campaign.

While Romney did win his home state and several Western states outside Arizona, he lost big time on two fronts: the biggest prizes of the night in New York and California; and failing to make any inroads down in the South, with Mike Huckabee winning Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Arkansas.

These twin blows led to the campaign having “frank discussions” of whether or not he should continue, and today the decision was revealed. Now, there is no significant opposition to Senator McCain – unless you count Huckabee, who’s down big time against McCain in national polls right now.

So what’s next? Well it came almost immediately after Romney dropped out. Senator McCain finally showed up to CPAC after spurning it last year as his candidacy went into high gear.

While the goal of his speech was to unite conservatives still weary of his actions over the past 7 years, he should know that one speech won’t do the trick.

He’ll need the GOP base, and he needs it soon if he wants to win in November. His speech was a start, but there’s still a long way to go. But McCain’s work starts now, as his last significant opposition has exited stage left today.

Akeem Mellis is the president of the College Republicans. You can e-mail him at amelli3@pride.hofstra.edu.

Romney leaves the race

By Michelle Westgate
Staff Writer

Republican presidential hopeful Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.) formally suspended his campaign Thursday during a speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Committee Convention.


“This isn’t an easy decision,” said Romney. “I hate to lose,” he said.

Many speculate that Romney’s withdrawal gives Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) a guarantee to the nomination for the Republicans in the general election.

“Romney’s announcement effectively ends the Republican race,” said Mark Landis, the chairperson for the political science department. McCain will now be able to focus on the presidential race, instead of the battle for the nomination, he added.

Richard Himelfarb, an associate professor of political science, is "certain" that McCain will be the Republican nominee for the November election.

With Romney out of the race, no other candidate will be able to overcome McCain’s current lead. “Huckabee is so far behind that he is not going to catch up,” he said.


Landis speculated that Huckabee may soon withdraw from the race as well.

Although Romney has not officially endorsed McCain, his statement today seemed to suggest that Republicans should come together for the sake of the nation. He explained that his campaign was hindering the protection of the U.S.

“In this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror,” said Romney.

According to Landis, Romney’s choice to suspend his campaign, rather than quit, allows him to continue receiving federally-matched funds for contributions received. However, suspending his campaign does not give him total control over the delegates he has already won.

“Suspending his campaign allows Romney to keep his delegates he won at the congressional district level in past primaries and caucuses,” said Landis. “Delegates won at the state level are now released from him and will be allocated in a manner to be determined by those states’ Republican Party committees,” he said.

In response to Romney’s withdrawal, McCain expressed that he is not slowing down. In an AP interview today, he said “We’re continuing campaigning and not taking anything for granted."

Romney suspends campaign

After reports from NBC News Tuesday night about "frank discussions" in the Romney campaign due to a poor outing in the Super Tuesday contests, Romney officially suspends his campaign in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC).

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