Mitt Romney’s supporters just can’t let go, and neither can he
It’s been almost eight months since Mitt Romney flirted with and then firmly denied a third run for president, but that hasn’t stopped supporters from wistfully imagining Romney 2016.
Noting an uninspiring Republican presidential field and the growing fear of a Trump presidency, several Romney supporters have encouraged the former Massachusetts governor to reconsider in recent days.
“Things are really playing out in a perfect fashion for him to come in and wrap this thing up,’’ David Van Slooten, a Romney donor, told the Boston Herald. “The party really needs someone like Mitt.’’
Greggory DeVore, another Romney fundraiser, went so far as to make Romney 2016 bumper stickers. “I told you so—Lets fix it,’’ they read, four dashes included, according to National Review.
As DeVore tells it, Romney’s former donors aren’t giving money to the current candidates because they “recognize that the people we’ve put out are not the same caliber as a Mitt Romney,’’ he told National Review. “They’re looking around and asking, ‘Is there anybody else to believe in?’ And the answer is no.’’
Romney insiders are stoking the fires, too, and a series of them spoke to New York magazine about the weakness of the Republican field and Romney’s opportunity.
“He’s someone to whom civility means a lot. The whole Trump thing really bothers him,’’ one close Romney adviser said.
“Mitt wants to run. He never stopped wanting to run,’’ a senior member of his 2012 team told New York magazine.
His former aide Eric Fehrnstrom took to CNN on Tuesday to throw cold water on these pleas.
“Mitt Romney has made his decision. He is not reconsidering it,’’ Fehrnstrom said. “He’s very content watching from the sidelines in the company of his family.’’
Sure — for now. But as the saying goes, the best laid schemes of Mitt and men often go awry.
Gallery: A century of governors in Massachusetts.
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