by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright January 30, 2015
All Rights Reserved.

                   Former Massachusetts Gov. and 2012 GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced he would forgo another bid for president in 2016, insisting he wanted to go out on top.  When you consider how badly he lost in 2012 to President Barack Obama, it stretches credulity to imagine how Romney thinks he went out on top.  While recent opinion polls show he leads a flock of possible GOP candidates?including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush?the polls are purely hypothetical, saying little about what would really happen in 2016.  Romney was condemned by possible 2016 contender 52-year-old Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), insisting Romney was two-time loser, having lost in the 2008 Republicans primaries to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).  Romney?s decision to bailout shows how a fleeting fantasy gave him some brief relevance again as he pondered another presidential run.

             Like his 2012 campaign, Romney wasn?t abele to secure any commitments from serious Republican donors, losing chief campaign strategist David Kochel to the Jeb?s campaign.  Whatever fire was left in Romney?s belly, it wasn?t enough to endure another costly, grueling campaign.  Among the richest of GOP candidates, Romney spent over $42 million of his personal fortune estimated at about $230 million, all in a losing cause.  GOP?s biggest donors, including billionaire oil-fracking mogul Koch brothers and billionaire gambling tycoon Sheldon Adelson, found out the hard way that money can?t buy the White House.  Romney?s decision to not run in 2016 had less to do with money than the realization that no GOP candidate has much chance against 67-year-old former First Lady, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, out polling her hypothetical GOP opponents.

             Romney?s wife Ann Romney told CNN Oct. 16, 2014 that she was ?done? with her husband?s presidential ambitions.  Ending the drama today gives Jeb?s campaign only temporary relief as he battles the notoriety of his brother?s troubled presidency, leaving the country in the worst recession since the Great Depression.  No matter how many donors line up behind Jeb, it doesn?t erase the torrent of adverse publicity tied to the Bush name after former President George W. Bush left office.  ?I am convinced that with the help of people on this call, we could win the nomination,? said Romney, signaling he wanted to end his bid while topping the polls.  With Romney?s chief strategist Kochel jumping to Jeb?s camapgin, it was just a matter of time before Mitt decided running was a nice thought but no thanks.  Neither he nor Ann had the stomach to go through another brutal defeat.

             Romney never came to grips with Kochel?s fatal decision picking House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) Aug. 10, 2012, a neophyte conservative firebrand who promptly frightened off independents and crossover Democrats.  McCain made the same mistake in 2008, picking former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.  McCain insisted that Palin was the future of the Republican Party, something so off-the-wall that she?s become a GOP oddity, shunned by what?s left of the Republican Party.  Palin?s rambling Jan. 23 speech to Tea Party Conference in Iowa raised even more doubts about her fitness for political life.  McCain?s chief political consultant John Weaver hit his campaign with a wrecking ball Aug. 20, 2008 picking Palin.  Today?s Republican National Committee, led by 42-year-old Tea Party conservative Reince Priebus, promises to make the same mistake in 2016 

             Romney?s decision to end his presidential bid speaks volumes about how the Republican Party is dominated by Tea Party conservatives, no longer in touch with mainstream American politics.  Today?s RNC under Priebus continues to make the same mistakes, focusing on extraneous issues like anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage and anti-immigrant issues.  Romney didn?t fit into GOP plans in 2012 and is even more alienated from today?s GOP politics.  ?I am convinced that we could win the nomination but fully realize it would have been a difficult and hard fight,? said Romney, throwing in the towel on another campaign.  Romney figured out what Jeb hasn?t faced yet about who currently runs the Republican Party.  Priebus and the Tea Party believe that the GOP failed since 2008 precisely because the candidates were not conservative enough?the exact opposite of reality.

             Romney pulled the plug on his 2016 presidential ambitions because he saw the same outcome in 2016.  He has the personal wealth to help fund a competitive campaign but knows that money alone isn?t enough.  No one at the RNC will try to talk Romney out of his decision.  Tea Party favorites Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have little sympathy for Romney or Jeb, for that matter, for not toeing the conservative line.  Moderate Republicans like Jeb and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will have a hard time convincing Priebus and the Tea Party that they have the conservative chops to run for president.  Priebus thinks that Republicans failed in the last two presidential elections because the party picked nominees without solid conservative credentials.  Hillary and the Democratic National Committee can only sit back and watch the GOP repeat the same mistakes.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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