Romney quits U.S. presidential race

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican candidate Mitt Romneydropped out of the U.S. presidential race on Thursday, makingSen. John McCain the all-but-certain nominee of his party toface the Democrats' choice in November's election.

"I feel I have to now stand aside, for our party and forour country," the former Massachusetts governor said in aspeech to the Conservative Political Action Conference.

"No, no," shouted some of the participants at theconference, many of whom are disenchanted at the idea of havingMcCain as the party's choice.

The writing was on the wall for Romney after he lost 14 of21 states on Tuesday, the biggest day of U.S. presidentialvoting ahead of November's election, while Arizona Sen. McCainromped to coast-to-coast wins and cemented his position asfront-runner.

Romney's withdrawal all but sealed the Republicannomination for McCain, the 71-year-old former Vietnam prisonerof war who has been lambasted by the right for moderate viewson illegal immigration and votes against tax cuts.

McCain's named was booed by some members of the audience atthe conference when Romney mentioned him.

Some of the conference attendees said they weredisappointed that Romney was leaving, calling him the onlyconservative candidate in the race.

"This leaves me very concerned about the future of theRepublican Party," said Nathan Shapiro, 22. "I don't thinkMcCain will carry on the traditions of the Republican Party,he's not a real conservative."

Romney said he was pulling out of the race in order to letRepublicans prepare for a general election battle againsteither of the two Democrats, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton orIllinois Sen. Barack Obama, both whom have campaigned towithdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.

"In this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be apart of aiding a surrender to terror," he said.

Romney, 61, had vowed to fight on after Super Tuesday, buthe and his campaign advisers discussed the situation onWednesday. Romney has been helping to bankroll his campaignusing his own personal wealth made from his years as a venturecapitalist.

"This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose," anemotional-looking Romney said.

Daniel Cordero, a political science major at DukeUniversity and a McCain supporter, praised Romney for the wayhe withdrew.

"He left with a lot of grace," said Cordero, who wasattending the conference. "He really tried to unify the partytoday. He was saying 'better somebody in this room than eitherHillary or Obama.'"

Many Republicans are eager for an end to the nominatingcontest between McCain, Romney and former Arkansas Gov. MikeHuckabee in order to begin what is expected to be a difficultfight against either Clinton or Obama.

Romney's decision will raise pressure on Huckabee to do thesame, although he has said he will continue his run that hasbeen fuelled by evangelical Christians.

Romney said he did not want to extend a fight that couldpossibly last until Republicans hold their nominatingconvention in late summer.

"If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to theconvention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaignand make it more likely that Sens. Clinton or Obama would win,"Romney said.

Romney did not endorse McCain in his speech. The two haveengaged in a bitter cross-fire in recent weeks over who is thereal conservative.

Romney said, "I disagree with Senator McCain on a number ofissues, as you know."

But he said he agreed with him "on doing whatever it takesto be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama binLaden, and on eliminating al Qaeda and terror."

The McCain campaign had said on Wednesday that McCain'slead was such that it was "virtually impossible" for eitherRomney or Huckabee to catch him.

The McCain campaign declined immediate comment. McCain wasto address the conference after Romney.

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visitReuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online athttp://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)

(Reporting by Steve Holland, Andy Sullivan, Deborah Charlesand John Whitesides; Editing by Patricia Wilson and DavidWiessler)