That’s a question that Americans continue to ask, despite the fact that the former Republican presidential candidate has insisted that there exists a “one out of a million” chance that he will pursue the Oval Office in 2016.
However, National Review recently spoke to a Romney insider who said the former Massachusetts governor is “preserving his options” ahead of 2016.
“The governor is preserving his options — that’s the message I’ve gotten from Boston,” explained Robert O’Brien, a lawyer who worked as a foreign-policy adviser on Romney’s 2012 campaign.
Back in December, though O’Brien insisted that Romney was not laying the ground for another White House bid, he did admit — as Romney has — that “circumstances can change.”
More from the Eliana Johnson at National Review:
What’s more, Romney sat down for a meal Wednesday with four of his political advisers from his 2012 campaign in Menlo Park, California, according to the Washington Post.
Nevertheless, sources have dismissed the idea that meeting was a secret strategy meeting about 2016.
Should Romney take that one-in-a-million chance and gear up for 2016, he would likely face a primary foe in Jeb Bush, who has started raising funds for his new PAC Right to Rise after announcing that he will “actively explore” a run for the White House. The two could very well end up fighting over donors.
Bush, according to a source, has already raised money in Miami, Chicago and Dallas in addition to the funds he brought in at a recent event in Greenwich, Connecticut. He is also reportedly spending this week fundraising in New York City before jetting off to Boston.
However, an unnamed top Romney bundler who spoke to National Review isn’t worried about Romney and Bush competing for the same money.
The bundler insisted that, if top 2012 donors went to Bush, it “wouldn’t be a problem” because Romney would still raise enough for a presidential run with “a fifth of the core group that [he] had before.” Romney raised over $1 billion during his 2012 presidential campaign.
“Is Mitt telling anybody he’s going to run?” said the source. “No. Are the people around him suggesting that he’s open to it? Absolutely. They would just love it.”
Though it remains unclear whether Romney will indeed make a third big for president, one thing is for certain: Many Republicans would like it if he did.
