Mitt Romney has accepted what became obvious after Super Tuesday — John McCain is going to win the Republican nomination for president.

Romney suspended his campaign today. Mike Huckabee might stick it out for awhile, but he’ll find the going tough outside of his Christian evangelical base.

Romney’s departure is no surprise.

When California was still in play Tuesday night, local political analyst Robert Speel told me that Romney might want to think again about continuing to pour millions of his own cash into the campaign. At the time, Speel said it might depend on how Romney did in California.

Of course, McCain took California.

Romney put on a good game face Tuesday night, but it’s tough to keep hemorrhaging money — especially when it’s your own. He invested more than $40 million of his money into the race.

That’s a chunk of change for 294 delegates, when it takes 1,191 to win the party’s nomination. McCain leads with 707 delegates.

— John Guerriero