Posted on 02/07/2017 11:16:16 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Any news story involving Romney running for any office is postworthy by definition for a veteran Romney trollblogger like me. But let’s be real: A freshman senator at age … 71, which is what he’d be on election day 2018? As good as he looks and as healthy as he seems, it’s rare — maybe even unprecedented — for a senator to be popularly elected to a first full term in his 70s. This list notes 12 who were 75 or older when they were first seated, but nine were appointed to fill vacancies and two more were chosen before the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified. The lone member of the list who was popularly elected was chosen in a special election to fill the seat for just a month.
But hey. If the Trump era stands for anything, it stands for disrupting traditions. And compared to the 82-year-old Orrin Hatch, who may or may not seek another term in 2018, Romney’s fresh as a daisy.
“I don’t have any predictions on what I might do. I’m not going to open a door and I’m not going to close a door. All doors are open,” Romney said after mentioning the 2018 Senate race.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, first elected in 1976, has not yet said whether he will run for re-election, but other potential candidates, including former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., have already surfaced.
One of Romney’s five sons, Josh, has also been mentioned as a possible Senate candidate, although Josh Romney has said he is “strongly considering” a run for Utah governor in 2020.
“I’m not looking forward to anything political at the national level,” Mitt Romney said. “We’ve got some races coming up here in Utah that are going to be interesting. We’ll see what happens on that front.”
One obvious possibility here is that he’s playing head games with his old frenemy, Jon Huntsman. Huntsman’s already admitted that he’s eyeing Hatch’s Senate seat; a poll taken two weeks ago had Huntsman crushing Hatch in a hypothetical primary, 62/21. Maybe Romney couldn’t resist throwing a scare into him, hinting that he might be prepared to bigfoot the election by throwing his own hat into the ring. His son Josh has also considered running for Senate in Utah before but passed on a primary challenge to Mike Lee in 2016. An open seat if Hatch retires would obviously be a different story — but as noted in the excerpt, he seems to have his mind on running for governor more so than for Senate. That’s what you would expect from an aspiring pol with a name brand and tons of political connections who might be thinking of a national run down the line. Build an executive resume. The only other serious contender for Hatch’s seat that I’m aware of is Evan McMullin, but McMullin would be no match for Romney or Huntsman in a primary. If being loudly anti-Trump were as attractive to Utahns as some polls last year suggested, McMullin would have done better than 21 percent on election day.
Question, though: What would Romney actually want to do in the Senate? If this is a simple matter of him having been bitten by the political bug again lately, perhaps due to the attention he got from Trump for the State job, I suppose that’s enough. Still, no true Romney fan wants to see him go to the Senate and end up being a rubber stamp for most of Trump’s agenda, which is the role the chamber is destined to play in most cases for the next four years. If he’s going there to be a voice for traditional conservative Republicanism, particularly on foreign policy and Russia, that’s well and good — but if that’s the plan, he’s playing it close to the vest. He made a point of praising Trump in the story excerpted above, saying “there are encouraging signs on a number of fronts” from the administration and emphasizing that the president’s “obviously gotten off to a very strong start in terms of making a series of executive orders and making the changes that he promised during the campaign.” I can imagine a Senator Romney gradually becoming an outspoken check on President Trump over time, but I think the olive branch Trump extended in the hunt for a Secretary of State bought him a long line of credit with Mitt. In which case, again, what’s the point of having a Senator Romney? Utah’s going to elect a Republican to fill the seat no matter what.
Worth noting, though: When asked by the Deseret News if his harsh views of Trump have changed after the State Department job interview, Romney declined to comment. Hmmm. Exit quotation from Bill Kristol:
A successful 2018 Romney run for Senate would lay the groundwork for a possible primary challenge to Trump in 2020.https://t.co/oMOIj3769b
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) February 5, 2017
I’m glad we got Trump, but, are we going to let corporate billionaires buy an office and become dictators in America?
The only way I support a Senator Romney is if it means denying Jon Huntsman a Senate seat.
What are his chances against Fauxcahontas for the Massachusetts Senate seat?
I might favor it if he could wrest the seat from Squaw Warren in MA, a Liberal seat.
As for Utah, hey, let’s have Evan McMullin replace Hatch instead...
What are his chances against Fauxcahontas for the Massachusetts Senate seat?
I might favor it if he could wrest the seat from Squaw Warren in MA, a Liberal seat.
As for Utah, hey, let’s have Evan McMullin replace Hatch instead...
No thanks.
It’s really hard to leave the political equivalent of ‘Show Business’. Everybody wants to get into the act!
Mitt loves campaigning, giving ‘severely conservative’ speeches, and meeting people face to face. He wants some of that high wire action. Mitt is really, deep down hoping that people start asking him about 2020, and presenting a primary challenge to Trump. “Miss Me Yet?”
Egg McMuffin? Did you forget the /s?
no
Shouldn’t Allahpundit/HotAir threads be in Bloggers, not “News”?
===>Are you ready for Senator Mitt Romney?<====
Which party banner would he run under?
Is the barn door open?
Cuz that horse has run off like Wildfire. And it aint coming back.
I wouldn’t vote for Romney for corpse pick-up.
I didn’t like Mitt when I had to down 2 stiff shots so I could hold my nose and vote for him in 2012.
I like him less now.
No Mitt, no way, no how, at no time.
RE: Shouldn’t Allahpundit/HotAir threads be in Bloggers, not “News”?
The news are LINKED in the article.
even mcmullin will vote with dems
Last option candidate.
I don’t want Egg McMuffin near any political office.
Every long trip is better with one soggy shoe.
Go away Mitthead.
Romney?
No.
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