Ron Paul suspends GOP presidential campaign

From CNN Political Editor Mark Preston

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Texas congressman Ron Paul announced that he was suspending his Republican presidential campaign Thursday, three months after Sen. John McCain clinched the party's nomination.

"With the primary season now over, the presidential campaign is at an end," Paul said in the letter to his supporters. "But the larger campaign for freedom is just getting started."

Paul is a former Libertarian nominee for president, and his opposition to the war in Iraq was in stark contrast to the rest of the GOP field. He plans to build an organization aimed at recruiting and electing "limited-government Republicans," spokesman Jesse Benton said.