The Republican Party fallout continues as presidential hopeful Elizabeth Dole called it quits Wednesday morning after being unable to compete in the battle of the bucks against front-runner Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

“It was a surprise to me,” said Ray Dearin, Iowa State professor of English and general co-chairman of the Iowa Dole campaign. “I think it finally got to the point where she thought it was futile to go on.”

Dole announced her decision during a Washington press conference, saying her rivals maintain a 75- or 80-to-1 cash advantage over her.

The two other leading contenders in the battle for the nomination are Arizona Sen. John McCain and billionaire Steve Forbes.

Although Dole raised more than $1 million between July and September, it wasn’t enough to compete with Bush’s record-setting fund raising.

“She just couldn’t compete,” Dearin said. “George W. Bush was sucking up all of the oxygen, and she just couldn’t breath.”

Dearin said he believed Dole’s current cash standings are around $800,000, which wouldn’t be enough to keep her in the race.

“It becomes exorbitant in order to run [television] ads in Iowa and New Hampshire,” Dearin said.

Dole had planned to officially announce her bid for the presidency Nov. 7 in Des Moines. She also had several upcoming Iowa appearances scheduled.

The former head of the American Red Cross isn’t the first one to drop out of the race.

Lamar Alexander, former Vice President Dan Quayle and John Kasich have all left the race. Pat Buchanan also is expected to leave the Republican Party next week for an attempt at the Reform Party nomination.

“All of these candidates dropping out is just amazing,” Dearin said.

In the most recent Gallop Poll, Bush held 60 percent of the support and Dole a distant second at 11 percent. An analysis of second choices showed 6 percent of Dole supporters would opt for Bush, showing the governor may gain support from former Dole backers.

Lauren Hughes, chairwoman of ISU Students for Dole, regrets that her candidate decided to drop out, but she said she is optimistic about Dole’s political future.

“I’ve heard rumors that she might join the GOP vice president nomination,” said Hughes, senior in zoology and pre-med. “That would be very exciting. It’d be a great move for women in politics.”

As far as who’d she support for the presidential nomination, “I haven’t had much time to think about it yet,” she said.