Posted on 06/15/2014 5:10:43 PM PDT by 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.
"He would be a giant in a field of midgets," added Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat who's weighing a 2016 bid himself.
A giant who lost to a midget! What does that make him?
That's excellent!
Those middlemen always turn out to have a nefarious agenda.
It would be a crying shame to waste what 2016 is shaping up to be on the likes of Mittens.
Romney's problem is, conservatism is not his native language. It's a dialect he needs to adopt to win nominations and elections (except when he doesn't). But it is not what he understands and believes!
Romney is a technocrat who accepts the existing order and tries to improve upon it incrementally. That's not exciting (which is why he loses elections). More important, it's not what the country needs!
IMHO we are going to need to run a candidate with military/foreign policy experience as well as executive/budget experience. We need a conservative with both creds to beat the Rats and pull our country out of its downward spiral.
I’m not sure who that person is. Ideas?
“LOL. Just pulling your chain. I know you hate Romney. Boy you’d have an apoplectic fit if Romney won on his third try, heheheheheheheh.”
You, dear Lady and your Romney, would enjoy
if Romney ENSURED the destruction of America
and Freedom as he has done for 12 years by manipulating
yet another US Election.
Shame on you. Shame on him.
I was presented a choice in 2012 that was not my doing: Romney or Obama and I chose Romney. It was so-called Republicans that gave us Obama part 2 and that is a part of the GOP/Republocan party that I can’t support.
Such hyperbole should not unwatched go.
Mr. Romney has serially backstabbed Sen. Thompson,
Gov. Palin (and her family), the Speaker,
and MANY OTHERS in critical elections in the USA,
leading to Obama-the-Tyrant (who not incidentally
Mr. Romney defended during each Election).
Mr. Romney has also removed Freedoms of everyone
has could in Massachusetts imposing both statism and worse.
Therefore, it not hyperbole but rather Truth.
I'm confused -- which part of the GOP gave you Obama?
Just so you understand ... most of us long-time Republicans regard Romney as "the part of the GOP/Republican party" that gave us Obama. It gave us Obama by making that "choice" you think you had in 2012, completely fake; whether you voted for Obama or you voted for Romney, you were voting for someone who WANTED THE SAME THING in terms of government-run health care, the homosexual agenda, the environmentalist agenda, abortion on demand, anti-gun, pro leftist activist judges -- anyone who actually investigated Romney knew this about him. It is lunacy to vote FOR a candidate who advocates all the things you oppose, HENCE the Republican party caused Obama because it fielded such a false candidate as the "alternative."
"Someone's got to say it: IS MITT ROMNEY RESPONSIBLE FOR OBAMA'S VICTORY?"
"Vanity: Team Romney Sabotaged Palin and Continuing to Do So?"
Apart from his numerous leftwing stances, including love of queers, he is the LOSER from the last election. The LOSER. How can anyone who functions normally in everyday life think he would be a good choice? Can you explain?
She’s no lady. She’s a flag woman. No “lady” would support abortion-pushing Romney. She has supported that bastard for YEARS on FR. She is no “lady.”
Meaning we should support the most conservative candidate that can win the election. In that case, for president. No, I wasn't supporting Romney per se. I was trying to unseat 0bama.
Too many "conservatives" worked to assure Romney was not elected, and thus they worked for 0bama.
What a waste of effort!
You are not truthful.
Conservatives tried to help Romney (he refused
and in fact OSTRASIZED them).
They voted for the RAT Romney, anyway.
But the carpetbagger RAT decided he was not really interest,
and sent his wife to defend him, over and over
because the RAT Willard ONLY goes after conservatives
(and their children thru surrogates).
Did Romney apologize to Sen. Thompson yet?
Did Romney apologize to the Palin family yet?
Did Romney apologize to the Speaker yet?
Did Romney apologize to the American people who he screwed now thrice?
“for the most right, viable candidate”
It’s funny that no matter how many times you Romney supporters are asked to sho an example of ‘right’ anything in his actual record, not one of you ever produces an example. Thus, how is it you keep pulling that excuse out?
What ‘right’ in Mitt Romney’s record are you actually basing your support on?
Until you answer that, all you are doing is smokescreening.
Voting "against" is imaginary. The only thing that counts is what you vote FOR. I thought and voted like you -- voting "against" the other guy -- for many decades until I FINALLY figured out that voting "against" was making things worse. It is HIGH TIME to start doing things RIGHT, and that includes voting RIGHT. Voting for Romney was WRONG -- proof if that is in the FACT that so many Republicans, such as yourself, deny that Romney was "their candidate" even though they voted for him and urged others to vote for him.
How long is it going to take you to figure it out?
Ronald Reagan
Really?
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