I know this news broke on Friday but what can I say? That Christmas tree isn’t going to take itself down and drag itself to the curb. The bottom line is that Mitt Romney has all-but declared his intention to launch a third campaign for the presidency and he did so in a not-so-subtle way.
Report from the Washington Post:
Mitt Romney forcefully declared his interest in a third presidential run to a room full of powerful Republican donors Friday, disrupting the fluid 2016 GOP field as would-be rival Jeb Bush was moving swiftly to consolidate establishment support.
Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, has been mulling another campaign for several months, but his comments Friday marked a clear step forward in his thinking and come amid mounting tensions between the Romney and Bush camps.
“I want to be president,” Romney told about 30 donors in New York. He said that his wife, Ann — who last fall said she was emphatically against a run — had changed her mind and was now “very encouraging,” although their five sons remain split, according to multiple attendees. [Emphasis added]
Advisers said Romney discussed the race with his family over the holidays, when they spent time skiing in Park City, Utah, but he insisted that he has not made up his mind whether to run. Advisers said he recognizes that he would not be able to waltz into the nomination and that the intra-party competition is shaping up to be stiffer in next year’s primaries than it was in 2012.
Getting the spouse on board with the run is usually step one. Now that it seems the Romney family is ready to ride the roller coaster yet again, Mitt seems fairly committed to resurrecting his 2012 campaign and pursuing his goal of the presidency. So I guess the only remaining question is Bush/Romney or Romney/Bush? I hope that begins our discussion.
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