Rick Santorum Drops Out

(Credit: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

Rick Santorum drops out, but claiming a victory of sorts. “Against all odds,” he said after leaving the race, “we won 11 states, millions of voters, millions of votes.” Paraphrasing what Charles Krauthammer wrote after Ron Paul’s impressive performance in New Hampshire three months ago, I’d say that there are two stories coming out of this Republican campaign: the big story is Mitt Romney, the bigger one is Rick Santorum. Perhaps the former senator was less a candidate than a “cause,” but his stronger-than-expected campaign has established him as a new leading voice for the conservative wing of the Republican party. “We are not done fighting, we are going to continue to fight for those Americans who stood up and gave us the air under our wings,” he said. We’ll hear about him for a long time.