U.S. Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry announced Thursday that he's dropping out of the race for the GOP nomination and endorsing former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for president.

Republican presidential candidate Texas Governor Rick Perry proposed a broad economic plan on October 25, 2011, centered on letting Americans pay a flat 20 percent income tax rate that he hopes will reinvigorate his fading presidential campaign during a visit to the plastics manufacturer. [Xinhua]

"I have come to the conclusion that there is no viable path forward for me in this 2012 campaign. Therefore today I am suspending my campaign and endorsing Newt Gingrich for president of the United States," Perry said at a press conference in North Charleston, South Carolina.

The objective is not only to defeat President Barack Obama, but to replace him with a conservative leader who will bring about real change, the governor said. "I believe Newt is a conservative visionary who can transform our country," he said.

Gingrich issued a statement expressing his appreciation for Perry's endorsement and asking Perry's supporters to rally around him.

"South Carolinians have a chance this Saturday to nominate a bold Reagan conservative who will offer a dramatic contrast with President Obama this fall in the general election," he said. "I ask the supporters of Governor Perry to look at my record of balancing the budget, cutting spending, reforming welfare, and enacting pro-growth policies to create millions of new jobs and humbly ask for their vote."

Perry's announcement came just two days ahead of a key nominating contest in South Carolina, the third in the primary and caucus calendar.

The governor surged to the top of the field soon after launching his bid last August. But due to a series of mistakes in GOP presidential debates, he dropped sharply in poll numbers and never got a rebound. He finished fifth in the Iowa caucuses and largely skipped the New Hampshire primary.

South Carolina is supposed to be Perry's last chance to gain momentum and stay alive. The state has a large population of social conservatives and evangelicals, a voting bloc that Perry is popular with.

However, the governor currently stands at the bottom of the pack in South Carolina polls. An NBC-Marist survey released on Thursday showed Perry in fifth place among South Carolina GOP primary voters, with 4 percent of the vote. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney led with 34 percent, followed by Gingrich with 24 percent. House Representative of Texas Ron Paul came in third with 16 percent and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum at 14 percent.

Perry's dropping out and endorsement would be a boost for Gingrich's effort to unite conservative voters to battle long-time front-runner Romney.

Concerned about Romney's record of flip-flopping on some social issues, conservatives have been trying hard to find a non-Romney candidate for president, but so far failed to settle down on a single candidate, leaving votes splitting among Gingrich, Perry and Santorum.

Conservative leaders have been in intense negotiations in recent days to reach consensus on a single non-Romney candidate before Saturday's South Carolina primary. Some prominent conservatives have called for Perry to quit to narrow down their choices.

Perry was the second candidate to end presidential campaign this week. Jon Huntsman, the former Utah governor and former U.S. ambassador to China, announced Monday that he's dropping out of the race and endorsing Romney.

Huntsman has mostly failed to gain traction in this election season, staying at the bottom of the pack in major national polls. He skipped the Iowa caucuses and staked his candidacy almost entirely on a strong showing in the first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire.

However, a third-place finish in the New Hampshire primary failed to bring the momentum he needed to keep his campaign going. He did not receive a significant boost out of New Hampshire, as seen in the case for Santorum after a strong showing in Iowa.

The dropping out of Huntsman and Perry made the South Carolina primary, the first in the south, even more competitive. South Carolina will be a pivotal battleground, analysts said, and the stakes are pretty high for all the contenders.

For Romney, who ended up in a virtual tie with Santorum in Iowa and won handily in New Hampshire, South Carolina will be a place that would decide whether he could lock up the nomination at an early stage and devote his time and resources to battling Obama.

For the rest of the field, a strong showing in South Carolina is badly needed to attract new donors to keep their campaigns going. This is particularly the case for Santorum, who is struggling with campaign funds despite newly-gained momentum out of Iowa.

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