It's a poor description because its deliberately inaccurate. Santorum was running for president. That's what his "campaign" was about. He is no longer running which can only mean the campaign is over. Not closing out the campaign with the FEC to pay off bills or whatever is irrelevant.
This afternoon, I'd not had the benefit of hearing Santorum's announcement, only news of what it said. You were crying about his choice of words and how they were somehow dishonest and misleading. Having now seen the text of his announcement, your complaints are all the ore absurd. Here's what he said
"We made a decision over the weekend that while the presidential race for us is over, and I will suspend my campaign effective today, we are not done fighting."
He said it's "over". What's not clear or up front about that?