Advertisement

Romney Bombshell Before 2016 Race Even Begins

Romney Bombshell Before 2016 Race Even Begins

Republican Mitt Romney's announcement that he is not running for the White House in 2016 is a bombshell.

Earlier in the day the former Massachusetts governor's aides had been briefing journalists that he had surveyed the electoral field of battle and believed he could win the race to be the Republican presidential nominee.

"Romney to run," declared a few news outlets ahead of Friday's New York conference call with his supporters.

Not so fast.

The 67-year-old, who lost his campaign to beat President Barack Obama in 2012, said in a statement: "I've decided it is best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee."

Ah, so much for that.

The news comes just three weeks after he told donors he was considering a third campaign for the White House.

But since then key supporters and fundraisers have pledged allegiance to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

"I would have the best chance of beating the eventual Democrat nominee," Mr Romney said, but he believed it was time to make way for a younger politician, "one who is just getting started", who "may well emerge as being better able to defeat the Democrat nominee. In fact, I expect and hope that to be the case".

Not exactly a ringing endorsement of leading contender Jeb Bush or most of the rest of the greying line-up wanting to have a go.

It was a pretty ungracious statement, but Jeb Bush, younger brother of former President George W Bush, is not likely to care.

Mr Romney's departure frees up great rafts of cash to float his way.

It was already heading in that direction and that will have been part of Mr Romney's calculations.

Better to bow out now than be forced out ignominiously later when the money dried up.

Spare a thought for the man.

For the last three years Mr Romney will have been told by one person after another how much they wish he was president.

Opinion polls showed he could have won a rematch.

It will have been tough watching the news and thinking, what if?

He undoubtedly would have felt vindicated on many of the points he made in the 2012 campaign.

On everything from Russia to Mali, the economy and the challenges of implementing Obamacare he turns out to have had uncanny foresight.

Recent opinion polls have placed Mr Romney as the favourite among Republicans to clinch their party's nomination.

But in reality he was more of a busted flush.

His previous gaffes would have come back to haunt him, not least his comments that he doesn't worry about the poorer 47% of Americans.

And if he could not beat a president mired in one of the worst economic stagnations of modern times, what chance would he have had with things getting better?

No one has yet officially declared their intention to run.

So a favourite has dropped out before the race has even begun.

If that sounds topsy-turvy, welcome to the weird and wonderful world of the US presidential primary season.