The day after Rick Santorum suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell predicted that enthusiasm will "quickly pick up" and potential GOP voters will unify around presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Appearing on "CBS This Morning" while on a state economic development trip to New York, McDonnell said Santorum could get "enthusiastically" behind Romney and ask his supporters to do the same.
Santorum "ran a very spirited campaign with very limited financial resources, worked hard, brought a lot of energy and volunteers to the party," he said.
"I think him getting out at this time is the right thing."
McDonnell, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, has endorsed Romney's bid and has been mentioned as a vice presidential possibility. He deflected that on the show, saying he is "not looking" for the position.
"I'm perfectly happy being governor of Virginia," he said.
Virginia is expected to be a battleground in 2012 as it was in 2008, when President Barack Obama became the first Democrat to win Virginia's electoral votes since President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.
The Obama campaign continues to beef up its Virginia operation and this weekend will open offices in Falls Church, Arlington and Suffolk. Those will bring the total number of offices here to 13.
McDonnell said Wednesday that he thinks the state will be competitive but that he expects Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, to win.
He noted recent GOP electoral successes in the state, including his 17-percentage-point victory in the 2009 governor's race and that he thinks "it's tilting back to its right-of-center orientation."
"But it's going to take a lot of hard work," he said. "President Obama's a great campaigner, he's going to raise a lot of money but I think the issues, which are jobs, economy, taxes, spending, deficits, energy, all favor the Republicans this time."
