Posted on 09/30/2014 9:25:10 AM PDT by ConservingFreedom
In recent days and weeks there has been renewed speculation that Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee for president will again be a candidate in 2016. There has been some talk about this for months, but it has grown louder in recent days. Yesterday, The Washington Post described Mr. Romney’s evolving potential candidacy as “The road from ‘I’m not doing it again’ to ‘Circumstances can change’ is paved with favorable polls, 2012 predictions that came true and public statements from supporters.”
Last week in an article titled “Romney 2016 is Real,” The Washington Examiner wrote “Romney is talking with advisers, consulting with his family, keeping a close eye on the emerging ’16 Republican field, and carefully weighing the pluses and minuses of another run.” Also last week, Jonathan Last at The Weekly Standard posed the rhetorical question of whether the possibility of a Mitt Romney 2016 candidacy is real and offered the response “Do I really for real think this is real? Oh yes. I believe that it will be a very short hop for the Romneys to talk themselves into ‘America needs me/him now.’”
For Mr. Romney there is no downside to this speculation at this time. If he ultimately decides not to run, a few weeks of generally positive media coverage and a brief return to the almost national spotlight will have done him no harm. However, if Mr. Romney decides to run, it is to his benefit to get in the race sooner rather than later.
Despite Mr. Romney’s defeat in 2012 to a vulnerable incumbent President Barack Obama, the rationale for another Romney candidacy, at least from a strategic perspective, is reasonably clear. None of the Republicans whose names are most frequently mentioned now, even those of potentially strong candidates like Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul or Chris Christie have ever raised the money and built the kind of organization necessary to run for president. There is only one Republican who has built a legitimate presidential campaign structure and is not to old to run in 2016. At least for now, that alone is reason why a Romney 2016 candidacy cannot be ignored.
If Mr. Romney runs in 2016, it could be a very different race for the former Massachusetts governor, perhaps more difficult than he might realize now. In 2012, Romney ran against a very weak field of candidates. Potentially strong opponents like Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman never put their campaigns together. Other major candidates, notably Rick Perry, turned out to to be terrible campaigners. Ultimately nobody raised enough money to compete with Mr. Romney who when 2012 began had raised more money than the next two Republicans combined. Mr. Romney’s strongest primary opponents were former speaker Newt Gingrich who relied heavily on the donations of eccentric right wing billionaire Sheldon Adelson, Rick Santorum who simply never did the work to raise the money to compete, and Ron Paul who most traditional Republicans did not like. Despite this advantage in fundraising and organization, Mr. Romney still only won 40% of the votes cast in that primary suggesting that he was never beloved within his own party.
That was the context in which Mr. Romney was able to, relatively early in the campaign season, win support from most Republican opinion leaders and fundraisers. If this time around any of the other Republican candidates can convince those political and financial elites that they too are serious candidates, Mr. Romney will no longer enjoy the monopoly or support from those groups that he had in 2012. That will make for a very different primary campaign this time for Mr. Romney. Right now the attention and mentions of a possible campaign in 2016 is good for the defeated 2012 Republican nominee, but turning that buzz and media attention into a successful primary campaign may prove a lot tougher against a stronger and better funded primary, especially as some of those candidates are already getting commitments from important donors.
Nominating Mr. Romney may seem to some Republicans like a quick and easy solution to a difficult primary season, but the candidate who lost for the party in 2012 might do just as poorly in 2016. In 2012, Romney made a tactical decision to position himself as a true conservative across the spectrum of issues. On balance, that was a mistake. It helped him get through a primary season he was going to win anyway but made it harder for him to win voters from the center in the general election, while never enjoying more than begrudging support from his party’s conservative base. That too is part of Romney’s legacy and will not serve him well in 2016. If Cruz or Rubio or another well funded conservative emerges, Romney will be vulnerable from the right in a primary. Even if he manages to win the nomination, Romney’s efforts to position himself, not always plausibly, as a right wing conservative and his unfortunate sound bites from 2012 will make it difficult for Romney to expand Republican support in what will likely be a difficult general election campaign.
If they nominate Romney again 90% of the conservatives should stay home! Talk about the definition of insanity with the GOPE, they have tried the same liberal/moderate crap since 1992 and it worked twice, barely, by the skin of their teeth both times and what do the do, same song, same verse, same musicians, same clothes, same consultants, same tactics, same everything and the result is same Loss on election day.
Romney as the candidate will not get my vote. I was also stunned the other day to hear Hannity say he would hold his nose and vote for Thad Cochran. No way could a person like Thad, after what he did to win, get my vote ever again.
FUMR!!
That seems to be the unanimous position.
Yet Rick Santorum is really the next in line, but honestly the best qualified is Ted Cruz. Either one they hate. So they trot out rinos to test run them. Jeb one day, Christie the next, then Rubio and finally now another run by Slick Mitt.
Yet Rick Santorum is really the next in line, but honestly the best qualified is Ted Cruz. Either one they hate. So they trot out rinos to test run them. Jeb one day, Christie the next, then Rubio and finally now another run by Slick Mitt.
You will vote for full term abortion and homosexualizing the military, gay marriage, completely open borders and even shutting down the Border Patrol and INS, Meth advertising etc?
Santorum is not next in line.
Santorum was booted from the Senate by 17.4% in 2006 and was supporting Arlen Specter in 2010, until he switched parties.
Now that Obama is securely in place for another four years and political advocates have settled down on both sides, we can look at the presidential bid Mitt Romney tried for in more historical terms, or at least try to. Now, Romney’s son, Tagg, has spoken up, stating his famous father never really wanted to run for President—at least not in 2012.
After Romney’s run in 2008 was unsuccessful, The Boston Globe is reporting the man with the perfectly coiffed hair was reluctant to run, again. It was Tagg and his mother, Ann Romney, who eventually convinced the man to give high-level politics another shot.
“He wanted to be president less than anyone I’ve met in my life. He had no desire to . . . run. If he could have found someone else to take his place . . . he would have been ecstatic to step aside.”
Tagg also spoke out about his father’s unwavering faith, as well as his commitment to his family, and how the race became even more marred for the man after Mike Murphy—the guy who ran Romney’s bid for governor in Massachusetts—declined to join the 2012 campaign.
- See more at: http://www.cinemablend.com/pop/Mitt-Romney-Son-Paints-His-Dad-Reluctant-Candidate-50708.html#sthash.ES8IbwdU.dpuf
Romn-mentum, baby! /s
You may not like Santorum and have a preference for another candidate, but Santorum was the last person with a chance in 2012. Going by the rino logic then he is next in line.
Lincoln Mitchell has over a decade of experience working in political development. In addition to serving as Chief of Party for the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Georgia from 2002-2004, Lincoln has worked on democracy and governance related issues in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Lincoln also was on the faculty of Columbia University's School of International Affairs from 2006-2013 and worked for years as a political consultant in New York City advising and managing domestic political campaigns.
I'm certain he does NOT have the best interests of Republicans in mind when he wrote this trash.
And by Chance I mean a chance to take out Romney.
Then Huckabee who was the “last person with a chance” in 2008 would have been next in line for 2012.
This “next in line” stuff is not as real as some pretend, that is why the veep from 2008 was never the next in line.
Santorum was driven from office in a history making loss, worse than the famous Christine O’Donnell loss, coming out ahead in the musical chairs “anybody but Romney” primary of 2012 doesn’t elevate him into presidential levels.
and Gee, why would coverage in the lefty media of him possibly running for 2016 be POSITIVE?? Such a tough question, not.
The real problem is there are too many voters on welfare of one type or another. Conservatives that stay at home don’t help any either
I welcome Romney threads because it gets the message out that the majority of conservatives REJECT him.
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