Posted on 01/11/2015 6:31:02 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Mitt Romney has formally expressed interest in trying his luck for a third time, just weeks after former Florida governor Jeb Bush announced the launch of an exploratory committee to run for president in 2016, The Wall Street Journal first reported Saturday.
“I want to be president,” Romney reportedly told about 30 donors in New York. Everybody in here can go tell your friends that I’m considering a run.”
Romney on Friday also e-mailed his donors with invitations to his fourth annual policy summit in Park City, scheduled for June 11-13.
Just a year ago, in an interview with The New York Times, Romney commented when asked about another presidential run, “Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no.”
So what has changed since?
“I believe Mitt Romney is too much of a patriot to sit on the sidelines and concede the presidency to Hillary Clinton or [Massachusetts Sen.] Elizabeth Warren when he knows that he can fix the country,” Spencer Zwick, Romney’s 2012 national finance chairman, who accompanied Romney to Friday’s New York meeting, told The Washington Post. “I think, at the end of the day, he believes he could actually make a difference. He won’t make a decision to run for president based on who else is in the race. He will make a decision based on his own desire and his own abilities.”
Friday’s declaration of interest by Romney is seen as an attempt to block donors from flocking to Bush, now considered the establishment candidate.
Veteran GOP consultant Ed Rollins told the Post, “Romney knows that he can block donors from going to Bush if he sends a clear enough message.”
“If you put Romney and Bush head to head, I think Romney probably wins that fight,” Rollins was quoted as saying. “Nobody is wholesale walking away from him. The donor base and operatives are still there. Bush thought he’d have an open field to easily beat Christie. Romney, if he gets in, changes that plan.”
The 2012 presidential nominee argued in private conversations, Politico reported, that Bush will likely face some of the same criticism over his own extensive business ties.
A former Romney adviser was quoted by BuzzFeed as saying, “Jeb is Common Core, Jeb is immigration … Can you imagine Jeb trying to get through a Republican primary? Can you imagine what Ted Cruz is going to do to Jeb Bush? I mean, that’s going to be ugly.”
Nonetheless, members of Romney’s inner circle remain skeptical that the two-time Republican presidential contender will make a third bid for the White House. For starters, he has done little to convince even close allies that he is serious about it, TIME’s Zeke Miller writes.
His only goal is to block Ted.
He’s not the guy needed for another political party...
Trust me here.
If it came down to Romney or Jeb, I guess I’d prefer Romney.
*sigh*
If anything he’s trolling for the same votes as Jeb and Christie would be going after. Romney could have been president had he shown any fire after the first debate. He’s done and he’s wasting his time and money on another presidential run.
I'm not optimistic, but it would be an interesting twist on an old story which usually works against Conservatives.
Seems like he’ll pull money away from Jeb.
I was shocked to see some support for Romney on Facebook, it seems absurd to me
He didn't seem to have any problem conceding the presidency to Obama when he should have beaten him. He didn't even try to win. Told everyone Obama was a good guy just in a little over his head. I guess that's why he didn't care to be a patriot and actually run a campaign against Obama then. Or perhaps he just thought Obama was doing just the right thing and nothing needed to be fixed.
I think Mormons have a lot of allegiance for him.
Oh, look, it’s the Trojan Horse candidate again, here to make sure no real Republican can win the nomination, then throw the general election to the Democrat.
Go away you’ve wasted enough Time and Money
He let his turn slip through his hands.
Naah. He first of all wants to block Jeb Bush and prevented him from securing the big Donner for himself. Blocking Ted Cruz comes later.
Me tooo!!! I want to be a REAL PRESIDENT! Just like Obama!!! My name is Mitt, and when I grow up, I am going to be a real boy, a real Obama boy.
I’ll write in my cat before I vote for either.
Morons?
And the viable alternatives to the front runners, will canibalize each other, and we’ll end up again with a manipulated National Convention, and the Republican Establishment will again choose for the people who they want on the ticket. I really, REALLY think it’s time to start a 3rd party.
Now be nice.
97% of the Mormons I know are admirable people.
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