Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney on Thursday suspended his presidential campaign for the Republican nomination, effectively clearing the way for frontrunner John McCain to seal the Republican nomination for the White House.

Romney's decision leaves Republican front-runner McCain as the top man standing in the Republican race, with Mike Huckabee far behind.

"I must now stand aside, for our party and our country," Romney said announcing his decision at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

"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," he said.

"This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters... many of you right here in this room... have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming president. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America," Romney added.

Romney did not perform too well on Super Tuesday laying his hands primarily on Massachusetts, North Dakota, Montana, Utah and Minnesota.

The big winner was of course Senator McCain who came away with 707 delegates as opposed to 294 for Romney and 195 for Huckabee.