Santorum bows out of GOP race

    Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum kicked off his presidential campaign in Pennsylvania last June.

    He was back in Pennsylvania to end it Tuesday.

    Speaking in Gettysburg, just two weeks before Pennsylvania’s primary, Republican Santorum said it’s game over for his surprising presidential campaign.

    After winning 11 presidential primaries but never quite claiming the front-runner mantle, Santorum suspended his campaign. But he said he won’t give up the fight to keep President Barack Obama from achieving a second term.

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    “I walked out after the Iowa caucus victory and said, ‘Game on.’ I know a lot of folks are going to write, maybe those even at the White House, ‘game over.’ But this game is a long, long way from over,” he said, surrounded by his family. “We are going to continue to go out there and fight to make sure that we defeat President Barack Obama.”

    Over the past two weeks, polls showed Santorum would be hard-pressed to win his home state in the upcoming April 24 primary.

    A Romney campaign ad buy of nearly $3 million across Pennsylvania was expected to deal the Santorum campaign its final blow.

    Santorum said he and his family made the decision together after spending the past weekend with his young daughter, Bella, who just returned home from the hospital.

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