Mitt Romney has dropped out of the race for President of the United States. The announcement came in his speech today at the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Committee) meeting. In his withdrawal, he makes the case for supporting McCain despite major differences by citing the necessity for leadership in the war on terror.

Source: Hot Air

Even though we face an uphill fight, I know that many in this room are fully behind my campaign.” You are with me all the way to the convention. Fight on, just like Ronald Reagan did in 1976. But there is an important difference from 1976: today… we are a nation at war.

And Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear regarding Iraq and the war on terror. They would retreat and declare defeat. And the consequence of that would be devastating. It would mean attacks on America, launched from safe havens that make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like child’s play. About this, I have no doubt.

I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know. But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and on eliminating Al Qaeda and terror. If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.

Source: The Page by Mark Halperin @ TIME

I must admit that Governor Romney makes excellent points here. I have never denied that John McCain would be a far better President on this one single issue than either Hillary or Obama. It is his record on the many other issues that I believe are highly important that has completely turned me off from wanting to ever support him.

So, with Mitt out of the race now, my plans for the very near term are to cast a write in vote for Fred Thompson in the Texas primary. A vote for Fred! will not hurt the party and the purpose of a primary is to vote for someone that you feel can best represent you. For me, that man is still Fred Thompson. But November is still a long way away and I have plenty of time to decide if holding my nose and voting for McCain is something I am physically capable of doing, because right now the stench of The Maverick is quite unbearable.