Ok... let's look at the sentences you quote from Paul's video message and analyze them a bit. There just might be an alternative meaning to them that does not fit the mold that ABC News would like it to... (it is ABC, of course from which your conclusions flow... they "broke" this story first).
1) "The presidential campaign will soon wind down." - Well of course it will. Super Tuesday is long over and "Super Tuesday #2" ended on the 4th. There are a handful of primaries left and the season for politicking will soon be over and we'll be on to the convention... where the rubber actually meets the road. This could be perceived as a concessiatory statement, or simply a statement of fact... the season is winding to a close... and it is - not only for Paul, but for McCain, Clinton and Obama as well.
2) "While victory in the conventional political sense is unavailable in the presidential race, many victories have been achieved due to your hard work and enthusiasm. For that I am deeply grateful and encouraged." - This also could be viewed as a statement of withdrawl and concession... or, it could be viewed as a statement and acknowledgement of what all of us true insiders into Paul's grassroots movement knew from day one... there was no way that Paul would come away with a popular vote "win", such as the one that McCain now enjoys (thanks to Romney's mysteriously premature exit from the race). There's still the convention and the nomination process by the delegates, which, as I stated in my post here yesterday, is the true measure of whether or not one gets nominated in the GOP. I must further remind you and your readers that McCain absolutely DOES NOT have the required delegates to seal the nomination. Of the 1200 or so he is counting on today, only a little less than 900 of those are "bound" delegates who have no choice but to vote for him. The remaining delegates are free agents who are not bound and have the freedom to cast their vote for whomever they want. We are still very much headed toward a brokered convention.
I sense from the tone of your blogs that you are really mocking most of the hard core Paul supporters, but I do also get a sense that you understand that Paul is much, much more than a kook and a looney bird. I appreciate your at least pointing out the positive positions for which Paul takes a stand. I'm afraid, however, that you are inaccurate in your assessment of Paul's pseudo-withdrawl from the race. He is still very much in it... no concession speeches or congratulatory phone calls being made on the part of the campaign.
