Is This the End of Ricco Santorum?

Rick Santorum Leaves the Presidential Race:

From New York Times

GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Rick Santorum, with an abrupt decision to end his campaign Tuesday, cleared the way for Mitt Romney to claim the Republican nomination while dashing the hopes of social conservatives who had propelled Mr. Santorum’s surprisingly successful challenge to the Republican establishment.
. . . In a hastily called 12-minute speech in a small hotel meeting room here, with his wife, Karen, and four of their seven children at their side, Mr. Santorum said his campaign was over but made it clear that any retreat from the political stage would be only temporary.
“We made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over, for me, and we will suspend our campaign today, we are not done fighting,” Mr. Santorum said as tears welled in the reddened eyes of his wife and the aides and friends who ringed the room. He did not mention Mr. Romney.
. . . as the Romney campaign began running ads against him in Pennsylvania on Monday, polls showed the race tightening, with Mr. Santorum in danger of losing the primary in his home state.
Such a loss could have been too humiliating to overcome if he wanted to resurrect his political career in the future.

Congratulations to Mitt Romney...He won in Wisconsin. Rick Santorum finished second. Newt Gingrich came in fourth behind Ron Paul. But Wisconsin was not a total loss for Newt. He did make off with a 45-pound wheel of cheese. ~ Jay Leno, Here

Mitt Romney is catching heat for a possible violation of election rules. He was at a sub shop handing out free sandwiches. Special Romney sandwiches — they come on really, really white bread.
~ Jimmy Kimmel, Here

Slumlord Donald Trump is telling Santorum to get out of race with dignity. If anybody knows dignity, it's Trump.
~ David Letterman, quoted by Roger Simon of Politico on Twitter

Santorum pulling out before Pennsylvania would be like Custer skipping Little Bighorn.
~ Ben Smith from Buzzfeed on Twitter

[W]hat General Washington understood, some of the best ideas, some of the best plans, in fact what has made this country great is that we have listened to real significant voices of everyday Americans. And he did. And that’s why he crossed the Delaware, surprised the Hessians and turned the tide of the revolution.’
~ Presidential Candidate, Rick Santorum, in a Liberty-Bell-ringing speech in Mars, Pennsylvania after losing three primary races to Mitt Romney. Strangely, one of the races was in Washington, DC, where Santorum failed to get his name on the ballot. Via Washington Post In-the-Loop Blog

We may disagree on a lot of things, but I'm with Santorum 100 percent when it comes to the Hessians.
~ Tim Murphy of Mother Jones on Twitter

Rick Santorum edges toward the embarrassment zone ...
~ Chris Cillizza on The Fix

Santorum really has no choice but to pull out early, same as you'd have for birth control if he'd been elected.
~ pourmecoffee on Twitter

CBS: Santorum Ending Bid for GOP Nomination

Santorum will make the announcement at a press conference in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania shortly, a senior member of his campaign staff told CBS News.