Mitt Romney for president in 2016? [Double-BARF alert]

CBS ^ | 5:21 p.m. EDT June 14, 2014

[SoConPubbie]

Far from being excommunicated by Republicans after his loss to President Obama, 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is enjoying a brand resurgence of late, drawing several potential 2016 candidates to his "ideas summit" this weekend in Utah and even earning some 2016 speculation himself.

Meanwhile, some other potential candidates are in Iowa for the state Republican Party's convention there Saturday. And not to be left out, Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., was in California Friday to raise money for the Republican gubernatorial candidate there and participate in a Facebook chat.

It all adds up to a busy weekend for the early 2016 Republican presidential sweepstakes.

In Utah, Romney has billed his summit as an opportunity for a new generation of conservative thinkers and political leaders to strategize about the best path forward for the party and the country. No fewer than six potential 2016 GOP candidates made the trek to the Park City, including Christie, Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Gov. Susana Martinez, R-Ohio, former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who was Romney's running mate in 2012.

Romney once worried he'd be branded a "loser for life" by his party if he failed to unseat the president, but it hasn't quite worked out that way. Despite the crowd of up-and-comers at his summit, many people there were more abuzz about the possibility that Romney himself could jump into the race in 2016.

Rommey "is the only person that can fill the stage," said MSNBC host and former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough at a private dinner on the summit's opening night, according to The Washington Post.

"He would be a giant in a field of midgets," added Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat who's weighing a 2016 bid himself.

Romney has not entertained speculation that he could mount another bid, saying he's only interested in putting his stamp on the party going forward and positioning Republicans to win national elections. "The unavailable is always the most attractive, right?" he said, according to The Associated Press. "That goes in dating as well."

He dinged potential Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during a campaign-style speech at the summit, pointing to mounting violence in Iraq to argue that the foreign policy Clinton helped engineer as secretary of state has been a "monumental bust."

"Tragically, all we've fought for in Iraq, all that 4,500 American lives were shed to gain, is on the cusp, potentially, of vanishing," Romney said.

The speculation swirling around Romney, who was the establishment choice in 2012, could reflect broader dissatisfaction with the party's slate of potential 2016 candidates.

One establishment favorite, Christie, has been handicapped in recent months by the traffic scandal surrounding the George Washington Bridge. And GOP officials believe former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would be a formidable candidate, but they worry he has not demonstrated the constitution required for a brutal presidential race.

Paul, an insurgent Republican viewed skeptically by the party brass, sharpened his pitch ahead of his speech in Utah, telling Republicans they must expand their support without watering down their message.

"Our base is not big enough to win national elections and we have to reach out to new people, and that means African-Americans, Hispanics, young people, single women," Paul told The Washington Post. "We have to have a message that we don't dilute or make no longer consistent with who we are, but that we take elements that really do appeal to people."

After his appearance at the summit, Paul left Utah for Iowa to speak at the Iowa Republican Party's biennial convention in Des Moines.

Also scheduled to speak to Iowa Republicans Saturday are Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., and former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., who won the state's first-in-the-nation caucus during the his own 2012 presidential bid.

As they consider their future, Jindal, Paul and Santorum have all burnished their appeal among social conservatives - a voting bloc with particularly strong influence among Iowa Republicans.

Jindal and Santorum will return to Iowa in August along with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, to participate in the Family Leadership Summit, the organizers of that event announced Saturday, according to the Des Moines Register. Other potential but unconfirmed attendees at that gathering of Christian conservatives include Paul, Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Govs. Scott Walker, R-Wis., Mike Pence, R-Ind., and Christie.

Like Paul, Christie has counseled his party to reach out to Democrats and independents.

"If you want a candidate you agree with 100 percent of the time, look in the mirror," he said Friday during a fundraising trip to California to support Neel Kashkari, the Republican gubernatorial candidate there.

"I'm out here to support Neel, to let him know it can happen, but that you have to reach out to everybody," Christie said, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

During his trip, Christie also visited with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who raised money for his re-election bid, and participated in a live chat with Facebook users. In response to a question about congressional gridlock, Christie advised lawmakers to seek common ground to solve problems, the Los Angeles Times reports.

[Norm Lenhart]

You are right. Nothing strange about a poster here under a month pushing for the most reviled candidate in our lifetime.

[Diogenesis]

The ones who needed a BREAK .... from Romney and his surrogates
were the Palins and the American people.

The RAT Romney will be remembered into Eternity
for throwing the 2008 Election to Obama.

Late in October, The American Spectator's The Prowler revealed:
"Former Mitt Romney presidential campaign staffers, some of whom are currently working for Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin's bid for the White House,
have been involved in spreading anti-Palin spin to reporters, seeking to diminish her standing after the election.
'Sarah Palin is a lightweight, she won't be the first, not even the third, person people will think of when it comes to 2012,'
says one former Romney aide, now working for McCain-Palin.
'The only serious candidate ready to challenge to lead the Republican Party is Mitt Romney.
He's in charge on November 5th.'"
The Prowler added: "Some former Romney aides were behind the recent leaks to media, including CNN, that Governor Sarah Palin was a 'diva' and was going off message intentionally."
The Romney supporters in the McCain campaign had access to internal polling which indicated well in advance of the November 4 election that McCain had no chance to win.
So they began working to position their man Mitt for a run in 2012. Just two days after the election,The Palmetto Scoop reported:
"One of the first stories to hit the national airwaves was the claim of a major internal strife between close McCain aides and the folks handling his running mate Sarah Palin."
"I’m told by very good sources that this was indeed the case and that a rift had developed, but it was between Palin’s people and the staffers brought on from the failed presidential campaign of former Gov. Mitt Romney, not McCain aides."
"The sources said nearly 80 percent of Romney’s former staff was absorbed by McCain and these individuals were responsible for what amounts to a premeditated, last-minute sabotage of Palin."
These aides loyal to Romney inside the McCain campaign, said The Scoop, reportedly saw that Palin would be a serious contender for the Republican nomination in 2012 or 2016, which made her a threat to another presidential quest by Romney.
Erick Erickson, who organized Operation Leper, said:
"Here’s what I think: I think there are some staffers on the McCain campaign who seriously screwed up the roll out of Sarah Palin, to which Governor Palin herself objected.
These staffers are now out trying to finish her off thinking, as typical D.C. types do, that if they don’t do it to her, she’ll do it to them. They just never understood who Palin is or what she is about."
"Likewise, I do think there are some staffers and others who expect Mitt Romney to run again in 2012,
they decided McCain could not win, and decided to undermine Sarah Palin and her chances hoping it would ingratiate themselves with Mitt Romney."

---

"Peeking Out From the McCain Wreckage: Mitt Romney"

"Someone's got to say it: IS MITT ROMNEY RESPONSIBLE FOR OBAMA'S VICTORY?"

"Vanity: Team Romney Sabotaged Palin and Continuing to Do So?"

"Romney Supporters Trashing Palin"

"Romney advisors sniping at Palin?"

[jameslalor]

Can we have some real candidates, please? I swear, at this rate I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bob Dole on the ticket.

[Theodore R.]

Neither will happen, but we can be assured that the American people will make the wrong decision.

[Victoria Delsoul]

LOL!!

[nascarnation]

Nixon won for POTUS in 68 with a 43% plurality, almost identical to BJ Clinton in 92.

[ansel12]

You may have an image of Romney from what you saw during the campaign, most of us here know his entire career and his true political positions.

I assume you know that Mitt Romney was a lifelong supporter of abortion since 1963, and that the he was a passionate speaker on why abortion had to be legal, and he fund raised for Planned Parenthood BUT..........tell me this, after he won the nomination, did Mitt Romney campaign as pro-life and as a defender of the pro-life platform of the republican party, or as against it, and for “health” of the mother, which is modern speak for “abortion on demand”?

[Diogenesis]

"Romney in Seven Words"

"On Wednesday, after his loss in the New Hampshire primary, Gov. Mitt Romney returned to Boston
to lick his wounds and conduct a telephone fundraiser before heading off to his next must win state of Michigan.
ABC Radio microphones were there and they featured an audio quote from Romney in their top of the hour news broadcasts.
Romney was encouraging his phone bank volunteers with a little pep talk when he unintentionally summed up his entire campaign;
ironically hitting upon the reason why he has failed to gain any traction with conservatives despite spending the most money of any Republican.
ABC News Radio was contacted by telephone and confirmed the following quote from their report.
" Hit the phones today make all the promises you have to, and…
make sure that we get the funds that we need to keep on propelling this campaign forward with power and energy.
“Make all the promises you have to.”
That’s Romney in a nutshell.
Of all the Republicans running, he alone has sought to clarify, cover,
and indeed change past positions in an attempt to curry favor with conservatives.
In the process, Romney has developed a reputation not as a principled conservative,
but as a politician who will say almost anything and take almost any position to win votes. "

[Victoria Delsoul]

You bet! I’m with you. And I totally agree with you.

[jjotto]

A conservative, a moderate and a liberal walk into a bar. The bartender says, “Hello Governor Romney!”

[Norm Lenhart]

Which is more evil. This guy or people who know his history and still push for him?

Either way it’s pretty evil people we are talking about.

[Theodore R.]

It’s America’s uninformed women who will elect HRC. It’s “Her” turn, they will say.

[JRandomFreeper]

There are fewer and fewer of you 'vote Pub no matter who or what' left.

And some of us that are vocal about the liberal republicans are doing something.

We're manning phones and knocking on doors, trying to get liberal republicans fired, either at the primary or in the general election.

So get used to the new normal. There will be pushback if the GOP tries running a liberal candidate. Pushback to the extent your liberal candidate will lose.

/johnny

[ansel12]

So, two time Congressman, Senator, two time vice president, a stolen election against JFK in 1960, failed to knock off incumbent gov, Pat Brown in 62, and in 1968 he became president, followed by 1972, one of the biggest landslides in history, becoming the first republican presidential candidate to win the Catholic vote.

Romney is a political failure. Romney has won a single election that he won with less than 50%, in his more than 20 year career, and he served that single term as a failure and had to give up his goal of reelection, leaving office with 34% approval and turning the seat over to the democrats.

Romney ran against nobodies for 2008 and lost to two guys with no money or organization after he broke spending records and spent 50 million dollars of his own money, then in 2012 he squeaked it out as America kept desperately rotating among his nobody challengers for someone besides Mitt, then he lost the election against Jimmy Carter’s second term, an election that was almost impossible to lose, and it wasn’t even close.

[Diogenesis]

"A conservative, a moderate and a liberal walk into a bar.
The bartender says, “Hello Governor Romney!”

[Norm Lenhart]

It’s the upside-down world of a GOP sycophant Johnny. People that oppose the abortion funding governor are scum and his supporters are doing the will of Reagan and the founders.

Remember when being on FR meant you were smarter than a DU poster? I sure miss those days.

[nascarnation]

I’m not selling Romney.
I’m just saying he might be inspired by Nixon’s comeback.

My own view is that Romney has almost no shot at the nomination in 2016. He was a weak candidate, just like McLame. All the billions aren’t going to make that much difference.

[citizen]

You know, if Romney were to gain the nomination again - I don’t think he will run again - the same group of folks here would work their asses off to make sure Hillary wins.

[Norm Lenhart]

Find me a more conservative position in Mitt Romney’s record than Hillary. Even she had a couple she could hang her hat on. Gay marriage being one. Pathetic as she is, Mit doesn’t even have that.

Aren’t you proud of that?

[ansel12]

I’m trying to explain to you that 67 year old Mitt Romney is no Richard Nixon and never was.

You can’t just see that they both lost a presidential run, and jump to the conclusion that their situation is the same, or similar.

I’m baffled as to how Romney gained the image of being such a major politician.

It is all image and no substance, we don’t even know why he runs, or what he wants.

Romney is a perennial loser.