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Mitt Romney ends recruiting efforts for an independent candidate By Eric Bradner and Jim Acosta, CNN Updated 3:01 PM ET, Wed May 18, 2016 Washington (CNN)Mitt Romney won't launch a third-party presidential campaign of his own and has stopped trying to recruit somebody else to do it. The 2012 Republican nominee had attempted to recruit a challenger to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. But prospects like Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse said no, and Romney is now dropping his efforts, a source familiar with Romney's thinking told CNN. The news was first reported by Yahoo News.

A candidate’s personal aide is normally told to remain quietly in the background. The so-called body man is supposed to be a constant, yet invisible, presence who is ready with a felt tip pen for autographs, prepared to operate any number of cameras, and knows what their boss wants to eat, and when. Garrett Jackson, who serves the role for Romney, can be seen in the background of numerous news photographs, usually with an earpiece surveying a crowd or guiding Romney to his next event (a rare exception was last week when Romney, in Jackson’s native Mississippi, told a crowd...