Gingrich drops out of race

Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Va.

Newt Gingrich, the colorful former House speaker and fiery partisan, formally exited the Republican presidential contest Wednesday and vowed to help Mitt Romney’s bid to defeat President Barack Obama.

Ending a campaign that seesawed between implosion and frontrunner and back again, Gingrich threw his support to his one-time rival as expected and promised his supporters he would continue to push conservative ideas. Gingrich bowed out of the race more than $4 million in debt and with his reputation perhaps damaged.

“Today, I am suspending the campaign. But suspending the campaign does not mean suspending citizenship,” Gingrich told an audience in a hotel ballroom in suburban Washington.

“We are now going to put down the role of candidate and candidate’s spouse and take back the role of active citizens,” he said, adding he would continue to promote conservative ideas on college campuses as well as through newsletters and films.

He also urged conservatives to rally behind Romney as a better alternative than Obama.

“This is not a choice between Mitt Romney and Ronald Reagan. This is a choice between Mitt Romney and the most radical, leftist president in American history,” Gingrich said.

Gingrich saw extremes during his campaign. His senior staff resigned en masse last summer when Gingrich seemed unwilling to undertake a traditional campaign schedule of person-to-person campaigning and fundraising. Instead, he leaned on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as a steady stream of broadcast interviews he seemed to relish. It seemed to work for a while.