# Romney leaves the race... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 7, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700 "2008-02-07T18:17:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnnieEnigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@JohnnieEnigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnieEnigma)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/1 "2008-02-07T18:17:19Z")
“If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror,” Romney told the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080207/ap\_on\_el\_pr/romney](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080207/ap_on_el_pr/romney) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/2 "2008-02-07T18:19:59Z")
[You beat me by 1 minute…](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=454746) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/3 "2008-02-07T18:20:10Z")
Has Huckabee expressed any reaction? ---
**Author:** ![JohnnieEnigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@JohnnieEnigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnieEnigma)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/4 "2008-02-07T18:22:22Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] [You beat me by 1 minute…](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=454746) [/QUOTE] maybe this thread belongs in the pit… 😕 I feel bad that it didn’t work out for him. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/5 "2008-02-07T18:22:50Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] [You beat me by 1 minute…](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=454746) [/QUOTE] He’s still [12 minutes slow.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9451760#post9451760) ---
**Author:** ![JohnnieEnigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@JohnnieEnigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnieEnigma)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/6 "2008-02-07T18:23:53Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Has Huckabee expressed any reaction? [/QUOTE] he’s probably gloating… ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/7 "2008-02-07T18:25:06Z")
Now I’m wondering how this will affect the Democratic nomination, since it frees up independents and crossover Republicans to vote in the Democratic race in those states that have open primaries. (Does anyone know how many such states remain?) ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/8 "2008-02-07T18:29:11Z")
[QUOTE=JohnnieEnigma] “If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror,” Romney told the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. [/QUOTE] Well, fuck you too Mitt. By rejecting you, Republicans have demonstrated that they are, at the very least, not complete morons. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/9 "2008-02-07T18:31:16Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] He’s still [12 minutes slow.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9451760#post9451760) [/QUOTE] And I had it way earlier. 😉 [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9451577&postcount=12](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9451577&postcount=12) This is really a non-event. Romney’s ship was sunk in New Hampshire, if not Iowa. I didn’t expect Huckabee to do as well as he did on Tuesday, but Romney has already been playing out the string for a month. I’m not sure what the “true conservatives” who were backing him will do, though - they don’t seem to like either of their final choices. Huckabee usually did better among self-identified conservatives than McCain did, I think, but for a conservative I think both are flawed candidates. I did get a laugh out of Romney’s dig at France, though. What the hell was that about? The President of France is a pro-U.S. rich conservative businessman - just like Romney, except popular and married to a famous model. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/10 "2008-02-07T18:32:51Z")
[QUOTE=Menocchio] Well, fuck you too Mitt. By rejecting you, Republicans have demonstrated that they are, at the very least, not complete morons. [/QUOTE] :dubious: A large percentage of them are still voting for Huckabee after all… -XT ---
**Author:** ![JohnnieEnigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@JohnnieEnigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnieEnigma)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/11 "2008-02-07T18:33:14Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] He’s still [12 minutes slow.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9451760#post9451760) [/QUOTE] I’m not a “he”. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/12 "2008-02-07T18:33:31Z")
[QUOTE=JohnnieEnigma] he’s probably gloating… [/QUOTE] Especially since Romney was pressuring **him** to drop out before Super Tuesday, to give the conservatives a chance! So the economic, make-the-tax-cuts-permanent conservative is out of the running. That leaves: 1. McCain: “Maverick” conservative, foreign-policy hawk. 2. Huckabee: Social-religious conservative, economic populist. Interesting choice. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/13 "2008-02-07T18:35:41Z")
[QUOTE=JohnnieEnigma] I’m not a “he”. [/QUOTE] You are actually an “enigma” though, right? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/14 "2008-02-07T18:35:47Z")
I expect Thompson is regretting his withdrawal. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/15 "2008-02-07T18:50:28Z")
3 months ago, if anyone had asserted that, from amongst Huckabee, McCain, Paul, Giuliani, Thompson, and Romney, it would be those last 3 that dropped out first, they would’ve been written off as nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/16 "2008-02-07T18:52:14Z")
Electing a Democrat POTUS is a “surrender to terror?” What an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/17 "2008-02-07T18:54:35Z")
IMHO, this is not good for the Democrats. McCain’s spending/campaigning can take a light approach up until it becomes a national contest, while Clinton/Obama will be spending and slinging for a while–neither of which is good on a party level. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/18 "2008-02-07T18:57:22Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Electing a Democrat POTUS is a “surrender to terror?” What an asshole. [/QUOTE] Well, he’s still a Pub and that’s been the party line for six years now. What else have they got, really? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/19 "2008-02-07T18:58:39Z")
[QUOTE=Rhythmdvl] IMHO, this is not good for the Democrats. McCain’s spending/campaigning can take a light approach up until it becomes a national contest, while Clinton/Obama will be spending and slinging for a while–neither of which is good on a party level. [/QUOTE] OTOH, it keeps both of them in the public eye from now until the convention, while McCain recedes into a background noise. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700/20 "2008-02-07T18:58:44Z")
Depends on how they run. If they focus more on each looking Presidential and dissing the Republicans, positive campaigns, then it is part of either of their general campaigns with extra publicity. If it gets ugly again then it is bad indeed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-leaves-the-race/436700.md?page=2)