Brownback makes it official: He's a GOP goner

Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback just made it official: He's out of the Republican presidential sweepstakes effective immediately.

Standing with his wife, Mary, and three of his five children in Topeka, where he launched his longshot bid last winter, the former House member and two-term senator Brownback said simply, "We're out of money." His most recent finance report showed only $94,000 in cash on hand after raising little more than $4 million this year, compared to Mitt Romney's $62 million. To watch Brownback's brief departure speech, click here.

"My yellow brick road just came short of the White House this time," he added.

As previously reported in Top of the Ticket here and here and in Mark Z. Barabak's Times story online yesterday and in today's print editions, Brownback's conservative message never caught on.

His departure, the third from the crowded Republican field since midsummer, could benefit former Ark. Gov. Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist minister who has a similar message but wrapped in a much more genial package. Huckabee's fundraising, however, has also lagged: only $1 million in recent reports compared to Ron Paul's $5 million.

So the Fox News Channel now only needs eight podiums in Orlando for the next nationally televised GOP debate, Sunday at 5 p.m. Pacific time.

--Andrew Malcolm