Former Utah Gov. Huntsman departs race

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) - Days before the South Carolina primary, Jon Huntsman dropped out of the presidential race Monday and endorsed Mitt Romney for the party's nomination, becoming the latest Republican to call the GOP front-runner the strongest candidate to beat the Democratic incumbent.

"I believe it is now time for our party to unite around the candidate best equipped to defeat Barack Obama," Huntsman said at a news conference, his family by his side. "Despite our differences and the space between us on some of the issues, I believe that candidate is Governor Mitt Romney."

The development added to the aura of inevitability Romney has worked to create in South Carolina and the race at large.

But Huntsman's departure and endorsement of Romney seemed unlikely to clarify the overriding question of the Republican campaign: Whether conservative voters could or would unify behind Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry to create a strong conservative challenger to the former Massachusetts governor.

It also prompted at least one Perry backer to urge the Texas governor to abandon his bid in hopes of preventing conservative voters from dividing their support.