As Mitt Romney moves closer to a third bid for president, the big question for 2016 is: who will follow him?
With the initial shock of Romney’s potential campaign wearing off, his top former advisers and allies seem to be coalescing around the idea. But for many other Republicans,the prospect of a Romney three-peat is angst-inducing.
With one of the broadest, deepest primary fields in recent memory, Republicans, even some formerly enthusiastic supporters, are conflicted about a comeback by the former Massachusetts governor who placed second to Arizona Sen. John McCain in the 2008 GOP primary and second to President Obama in the 2012 general election. Many party members remain skeptical that Romney can overcome mistakes made in 2012.
“He is in many ways yesterday’s news, and particularly having lost, it’s hard for people to think, ‘Oh that’s a great idea,’” one RNC member told the Washington Examiner. “People like him, they respect him, but I don’t think he is the answer to how we’re going to win the White House.”
Still, if some Republicans have been slow to warm to another Romney campaign, there has so far been no concerted effort, in public or private, to keep Romney out of the race.
“The more the merrier,” Sen. Rand Paul, who is also moving toward a bid for president, told the Examiner last week when asked about Romney’s potential bid for president.
“If it’s in his head and in his heart to run, that’s what he should do,” said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who endorsed Romney during the general election in 2012. “He’s in the best position to make that judgment.”
Romney also continues to enjoy robust support among Republican voters. A CBS News poll released Sunday showed more Republicans want Romney to run for president in 2016 than any other potential candidate, with 59 percent favoring a bid and 26 percent opposing it.
By contrast, 50 percent of the poll’s respondents want former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to run, while only 29 percent said they want New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to throw his hat in the ring.
Romney’s old inner circle, too, appears to be supportive.
As Romney spoke Friday at the Republican National Committee meeting in San Diego, a few allies networked with committee members to attempt to assuage their concerns about Romney 3.0.
Ron Kaufman, a former senior adviser, made the case that Romney would be among the smartest candidates and best debaters, would be well-funded, and ultimately would make the best president.
When Romney spoke from the U.S.S. Midway Friday, he hinted at his flirtation — and many in the crowd ate it up.
“There is some speculation about whether I’m about to embark on a political endeavor in which I’ve been previously unsuccessful,” Romney said, to some applause and whoops. “Let me state unequivocally that I have no intention of running for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.”
According to one former Romney aide, many of the past campaign’s senior advisers are still in the fold, including Beth Myers, Eric Fehrnstrom, Peter Flaherty and Bob White.
Romney’s former campaign manager, Matt Rhoades, is currently leading the Republican opposition research group America Rising, but has been supportive and involved from the outside, the former aide said.
Otherwise, Romney’s team is for now barely a sketch. Colin Reed, who managed Scott Brown’s Senate campaign in New Hampshire and has worked also for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, announced last week that he will begin working for Romney on a volunteer basis.
Many former Romney staffers, still stunned by his swift reversal, are waiting to see what happens.
“After he lost in 2008, there was a sense immediately that he was going to run again,” one former aide said. “After 2012, we thought that was the end of his political career. There was a sense of closure for a lot of the staff afterwards. No one was expecting there’d be a third campaign.”
“If he’s getting in this far,” the former aide added, “he’s likely to do it.”
