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As Ryan reported earlier, Governor Romney has officially dropped out of the 2008 presidential race. With his announcement, many of his supporters, including myself, will back John McCain. Romney did several things with his well timed announcement at CPAC, he has made himself into perhaps one of the most respected conservative elder statesmen in the party and he has also set himself up well for a second bid for the nomination in 2012. Additionally he has given McCain the nomination and has spared the Arizona Senator from having to fight him off in a war of attrition.

By “suspending” his race at CPAC today, Mitt Romney will ensure that his race ended on a high note-in front of a friendly audience where he was declared a hero and a son of the party. For the next several nights, clips from his speech will be played on the prime time political shows and the Sunday talk shows; the media will portray Romney as perhaps one of the most respected men in the Republican party and we should all expect him to have a very prominent place with a speech at the convention this summer. In the event that McCain does not win (or if he does not seek a second term after becoming POTUS) Romney will be in a very good place to restart his presidential bid. By not fighting on, Romney and his entire campaign will be treated with respect from the GOP. The Governor will have a broad base of support in the future. Indeed, a second presidential bid for Romney in 2012 could be much easier. He will have the issues of his religion, conservative values, and military experience behind him. The next president will most likely either withdraw from Iraq or oversee a period of significant improvements in the theater which will put less emphasis on the war and thus less importance on personal military experience for the commander and chief (something Romney lacks). Additionally, he addressed his Mormon faith during this election and in the last few weeks it has become evident that the Republican Party was willing to look past it and embrace him despite his unorthodox religious beliefs. The GOP establishment and even the social conservatives have accepted the Massachusetts Governor over the past few weeks and would be willing to support him in the future. This is good news for his future campaign manager as it means he no longer has to be marketed as the “least objectionable” Republican candidate; instead, he can run on his managerial experience and business and economic prowess while knowing he has the support of the national security and Christian conservatives. All of the faults Governor Romney had that precluded him from attaining the Republican nomination will be ignored or not considered vital if he does seek to run a second time.

Governor Romney did a great service to the Republican Party today. By ending his presidential bid, he has made John McCain the Republican nominee-it is mathematically impossible for either Ron Paul or Mike Huckabee to win the nomination-perhaps months before the Democrats have a front-runner. The Democratic party has been generating a lot more excitement and raising significantly more money than any of the Republican candidates in this election, but if the Democratic race goes to the convention (which looks likely), John McCain will have an additional six months to raise money and build a very strong grass routes campaign. This extra time will be crucial for McCain to mend the bruises between the national security, economic, and social conservatives and could enable the Republican Party to once again rally behind one candidate. In comparison, the Democratic Party is split down the middle and is embattled in a political civil war pitting the African American voting block against the female voting block and the educated Democratic activists against the working class. Contrary to what all of the pundits thought a few months ago, the Democratic Party may be on the verge of falling into shambles while the Republicans may rally together. If Hillary Clinton goes into the Democratic convention with less delegates than Barrack Obama, but wins the nomination because of the loyalty of her super-delegates expect a full-scale revolt from many Democratic voters.

Whether or not Mitt Romney is offered or accepted the vice presidential spot on the Republican ticket, it can be said that he has had an enormous amount of influence on the party today and has perhaps provided the adhesive bandage the party needed to once again secure the White House in 2008. The situation will continue to improve in Iraq and by this November many Americans will be against the withdrawal and surrender that Democrat’s are calling for. John McCain’s opposition to the Bush strategy will demonstrate to moderates, independents, and strong conservatives that he knows how to win the war.
Aside from winning the nomination outright, I cannot see any other way for Governor Romney to make as big of an impact on the party as he did today.

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The Did Romney just help the Republicans keep the White House? by New School Politics, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.