WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney dropped out of the presidential race today before a crowd of conservatives and supporters in Washington, DC., saying that staying in would only make it easier for the Democrats to win the White House in November.

"This isn't an easy decision, I hate to lose," Romney said.

He dropped out just two days after Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., won the majority of delegates up for grabs on Super Duper Tuesday, making it virtually impossible for Romney to win.

"If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention — I want you to know I have given this a lot of thought — it would forestall the launch of a national campaign (for the eventual Republican nominee) and probably make it easier for Sens. Clinton or Obama to win," Romney told the Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday.

"Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."

Romney will meet with his congressional supporters — including Republican members of Utah's congressional delegation — today on Capitol Hill and then head back to Massachusetts. Romney won Utah's GOP primary Tuesday with 90 percent of the vote, and Utah voters are the second highest contributors to his campaign.

Campaign spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said the former Massachusetts governor, who also ran the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, will get some "well-deserved rest" and has no immediate plans.

Romney was scheduled to speak in Baltimore tonight at a Republican fundraiser but that appearance was canceled. Campaign advisers suggested it had only been added to the schedule to ensure Romney's announcement today came as a surprise.

Romney met with his senior campaign team in Boston Wednesday to consider his options after a disappointing performance on Super Tuesday. He had hoped to win California, but lost that state and eight others to McCain. Romney won Utah, Massachusetts and five other states.

"I was holding out hope," one participant in that meeting, Romney's national finance director, Spencer Zwick said. "But Super Tuesday changed some things."

Zwick, a Utahn who first worked for Romney as an aide during the 2002 Olympics, said "at the end of the day, the final decision was made by Mitt and Ann," his wife of 39 years. "It is a sad day. It's tough. It's tough," Zwick said. "Nobody likes to say it's better to step aside."

Fehrnstrom said at the meeting, participants "saw a pathway to the nomination but it would have been difficult." Romney addressed his staff and then went to his home in nearby Belmont to write the CPAC speech that became his farewell.