Mitt Romney Suspends Campaign

Mitt Romney has decided to hang up his coat and quit the campaign for a Republican presidential nomination. By suspending his campaign, Romney will keep his delegates and not give them to those still active in the presidential race.

Presidential candidates may "suspend" their campaign without dropping out of the race and thereby remain a candidate. They lose any statewide pledged delegates but can keep their any district level delegates they won. Romney is expected to make his decision Thursday afternoon at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. Super Tuesday hurt Romney's chances at winning the Republican nomination: He only secured 270 delegates, compared to John McCain's whopping 680. Critics also point out that Romney never took advantage of his wins in the first contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. On Tuesday, Mike Huckabee won Iowa and McCain wrested New Hampshire away from Romney.