I was right. Maybe. I was completely right. Maybe. If you haven’t heard the rumors, allegedly the GOP is trying to convince Mitt Romney to run for president again. Now, if you’re wondering what I was right about, think back to the early weeks of the semester.
In my first column of the year, I wrote something to the tone of thinking that the GOP wishes they could have a Mitt Romeny-esque candidate this year considering the joke that Donald Trump is making of the party.
I may have been correct in that assessment as CNN reported late last week that the GOP is reportedly trying to recruit Romney to run. Allegedly, Romney has said that he has no interest in running.
However, it is curious that despite having no interest in running for the office, Romney has been making the rounds on talk shows and sending out sound clips into the public blasting President Obama’s policies regarding ISIS following the deadly events that took place in Paris over the weekend.
Could this just be some sort of celebratory “You-shoulda-voted-for-me” routine? It’s possible. But, I think Romney may actually be considering jumping into the fray and this is his way of getting people fired-up and mad in order to command votes and create a platform.
To be completely honest, I don’t like the idea of someone using tragedy to launch an election platform. Romney doesn’t have to be one of those guys who seizes upon the politicization of a massive tragedy to create a presidential campaign.
Romney is accomplished enough that he was able to essentially sail by his competitors last year and considering the goofballs that are running this year, he should be able to sail right by them.
Think about it: Jeb Bush’s campaign is completely defunct, Trump’s numbers are starting to falter, Ben Carson’s numbers may be on the rise, but he can’t go five minutes without putting his foot in his mouth.
I’m sure that Romney’s faults from last year still apply. I’m sure he’ll still have problems connecting to the poorer members of the electorate. I’m sure he is still kind of stilted and uptight. But, he could probably win this election cycle without much of a problem.
Sure, candidates would be able to point to Romney’s faults from the last election cycle, but Romney’s people will have had the training and the know-how to handle those issues and topics as they come up.
Don’t get it twisted. I’m not actively rooting for Romney. I’m not a Romney supporter. However, I do think that it is important to keep both parties within the American political system as strong as possible.
Strong candidates produce hard-fought elections and force the electorate to really think about the person who they are potentially putting into one of the most important offices in the world.
Romney is easily the strongest candidate amongst those in a race that he hasn’t even formally joined yet. I think he if jumps into the GOP pool, the splash would be big enough to wash out Trump, Carson, and Bush.
However, the important point still stands that Romney has shown no real serious interest in running at all. I just thought that it was worth bragging about that I essentially predicted that the GOP would go begging Mitt Romney to run for POTUS amongst some of the biggest duds in recent political memory.
I only wish I could be nearly as successful in picking which football teams were going to win on Sunday and maybe I could win some money. I guess I’ll just stick to politics (although I’m not a bad guy to have in your Oscars pool).
Brian Laughran
Editor-in-Chief