(Image Source: Conservative Daily News)

BY BLAKE HANSON

GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry abandoned his campaign Thursday, throwing his support behind Newt Gingrich. He made the announcement from North Charleston, South Carolina....

“I have come to the conclusion that there is no viable path forward for me in this 2012 campaign. Therefore today, I am suspending my campaign and endorsing Newt Gingrich for president of the United States.”
(Video: CNN)

The announcement came on the day of the final pre-South Carolina primary debate. Analysts are already speculating how this could impact the outcome in South Carolina, the Los Angeles Times notes -- he was running fifth in the polls in South Carolina.

“With Perry out of the race, his support, though only in the mid-single digits, could prove helpful to Newt Gingrich, who has been surging in recent opinion surveys.”

A pair of ABC News bloggers say more important than helping Gingrich -- the move doesn’t help Romney in South Carolina.

“This is a state that still talks about the battle at Fort Sumter as if it happened a few years ago. It’s a place that chafes under the bridle of the ‘establishment.’ And right now, the establishment — the media, the pundits, the polls — is telling them that Romney is going to be the nominee.”

Fox News’ Martha MacCallum reminds people the Perry campaign had high hopes out of the gates...

“There was so much promise for him to get into this raise, so much momentum. It did not go well for him in the campaign and there will be a lot talked about in regard to that in the next hours today.”

So why’d Perry drop now and not after he hinted at it after the Iowa Caucus? The Atlantic Wire offers this analysis...

“Like Jon Huntsman who dropped out himself two days ago, Perry had fallen behind faux candidate Stephen Colbert in Public Policy Polling’s numbers in South Carolina numbers released yesterday.”

The announcement leaves four GOP candidates vying for the nomination ahead of South Carolina’s Saturday night primary: Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.