Santorum's Out, No Surprise There!

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum has announced he is withdrawing from the race for the Republican presidential nomination:  

Santorum drops out, clearing the way for Romney

By KASIE HUNT, Associated Press – 57 minutes ago 

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Rick Santorum cleared the way for Mitt Romney to claim victory in the long and hard-fought battle for the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday, giving up his "against all odds" campaign as Romney's tenacious conservative rival.
Santorum's withdrawal sets up what is sure to be an acrimonious seven-month fight for the presidency between Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, and Democratic President Barack Obama, with the certain focus on the still-troubled economy.
"This has been a good day for me," a smiling Romney told supporters in Wilmington, Del., saying he believes Santorum "will continue to have a major role" in the Republican Party.
In a preview of the personal attacks that lie ahead, Obama's campaign manager declared that Americans neither like nor trust Romney, and the Romney camp said the fight had always been about defeating Obama, not GOP rivals.
"This game is a long, long, long way from over," Santorum said as he bowed out of the contest with Romney. "We are going to continue to go out there and fight to make sure that we defeat President Barack Obama." (The rest of the story here.)

I must say I anticipated this back in January.

The mainstream press gave life to this influence peddler's nomination run at all cost, just so the debate that really ought to be had--the one whether we keep going down the path of fascist collectivism and or move toward liberty--gets avoided. With Newt "Nepotism" Gingrich already deposited in the bin of oblivion, perhaps there will be no other choice but for the media to give Ron Paul some more coverage now. 

The likelier scenario is that Santorum's withdrawal is a strategic one, as the Republican Establishment may have decided that they've had enough of the "hard-hitting fight" in their party; and that the press will crown Mitt "The Inevitable One" Romney, the nominee.

It's just painful to watch how much the Republicans are trying to make this year's campaign go "by the book." This year is anything but a template year in American politics. I for one believe that Lew Rockwell (see video below) is right when he says that Ron Paul has already won, and that means that the political system in the United States and elsewhere is going to undergo a severe change in the coming years.