I never thought that Mitt Romney had a snowball’s chance in hell to begin with - he just has too much baggage and too many negatives for any Republican but the most loyal GOP corporatist to support.

Mark Halperin at Time is reporting that Romney will be dropping out of the GOP race today. Multiple sources are confirming the decision. No further details yet, and nothing on Romney’s site.

The timing is definitely surprising, but with McCain all but starting to distance himself from the rest of the pack, it makes sense. Romney is a businessman, has run a mostly self-funded campaign, and businessmen rarely throw good money after bad. Obviously, he can do the math.

Who does this help of the remaining candidates? My immediate reaction is that it helps Mike Huckabee gather in a bit more of the “value voter” contingent that had gravitated to Romney, but really, Huck’s campaign is on life support as well.

Updates above…