Gingrich says he'll support Romney

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

Ending a campaign that seesawed between implosion and front-runner and back again, Gingrich threw his support to his onetime 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 declared in a hotel ballroom in the D.C. suburbs.

"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 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," he 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. Gingrich plodded along with a proudly nontraditional campaign and strong debate performances. The showings helped him win in South Carolina, one of only two states he would win, but were insufficient to stave off Romney's spending and organization in Florida.

After the stinging January loss there, the always high-spending Gingrich campaign seemed to sputter along while amassing enormous debt.

The campaign ended February with $1.5 million in the red but continued spending as though donors were coming.