June 30, 2016

Mitt Romney reveals — just yesterday! — that he's decided not to run for President.

"I got an email from one of my sons yesterday that said, 'You’ve got to get in, dad. You’ve got to get in.'"
The former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican Party nominee said the push came “late in the process” because his family members were “concerned about the direction of the nominating process in our party.”...
This end-stage Stop-Trump business is gruesome. 

47 comments:

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Free Mitt. Run little buddy, your country needs you, now more than ever.


Brando said...

Yeah, that's not news. Romney decided against running in 2015 and nothing has changed.

The "Stop Trump" Republicans failed a while ago, he is their nominee. They have to decide if they can stomach him, or any other alternative will likely mean accepting Hillary as the next president (even if they don't support her). And the Trumpites will have to decide if the anti-Trumpers are numerous enough that they need them to come around in the end.

Business as usual in this dysfunctional, defeat from the jaws of victory sort of party.

james conrad said...

Who cares what Mitt has decided?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Democrats are not democrat - they are thugs. Must see video at top of link.
If you can't kill free speech in the courts, use intimidation tactics to silence your opposition.(D)

Clayton Hennesey said...

Romney decided against running in 2012.

RMc said...

Romney decided against running in 2012.

Just came in to say this.

Bay Area Guy said...

I liked Mitt, but this is pitiful.

To stop Trump, you have to run against him and beat him.

Mitt chose not to run against him. Ergo, he chose not to stop him.

Indeed, Mitt was one of the few men on earth with the $, name recognition, political allies and apparatus to stop him.

But he declined the challenge. That is fine, but after declining the challenge, he should just smile and say nothing. Why is that so hard?

Michael said...

What a dipshit

The Godfather said...

Even if there were a chance of stopping Tromp from getting the nomination, the last person who could do that is Romney.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Looks like Mitt Romney is more of a nerd than I realized.

PB said...

I don't know which is more pathetic. Mitt communicating the matter or his son asking.

Laslo Spatula said...

There is nothing left for Romney except Mormon Porn.

"Look at me, I'm fucking a casserole! I'm fucking a casserole with my big Mormon cock! Oh, casserole, baby, you're so tight -- Daddy's going to teach you a lesson! And then I'm going to ravage the Jello! I'm a dirty Mormon Jello Fucker!"

Something like that.

I am Laslo.

Xmas said...

Romney already lost one Presidential race. There is no way he would run again. He didn't have the support of the Republican base.

I think these news stories about Mitt are the usual bullshit stories about the "reasonable" Republican that didn't run. It is the same crap they ran during the Bush years with "maverick" McCain. You see it this year from the Right with the Biden and a brokered convention stories.

David Begley said...

The Atlantic, 2010,

"In some circles, it is a well-known and boast-worthy fact that Utah has historically consumed more Jell-O per capita than any other state in the nation. This jiggling, fruity dessert made from horse hooves and artificial flavoring holds a special wobbling place in the heart of every Utahan, native or adopted. The love of Jell-O resonates so deeply that in 2001, when Utah narrowly beat out Iowa in annual Jell-O consumption, state officials elected Jell-O the official state snack and named Bill Cosby an honorary Utah citizen."

Bill Cosby?

tim maguire said...

Mitt had his chance and he blew it. He lost a winnable race. Now he's let us know he won't cost his party another winnable race? Thanks Mitt. Once upon a time, I respected you. That respect fades a little every time you open your mouth.

Darrell said...

After Trump wins, Mittens can change his mind.

sean said...

Well, Hillary will stop Trump, which will be gruesome enough. I just finished reading Gibbon a while ago: who would have thought our politics would devolve back to the era of dowagers and eunuchs?

bbkingfish said...

Mitt doesn't remember exactly which son e-mailed him, but it was one of them.

Laslo Spatula said...

Mitt has binders full of regrets.

I am Laslo.

madAsHell said...

This is performance art for the grieving. The letter from his son never happened, but the plot device gave him an opportunity to speak.

Carol said...

The nice thing about having held high office, or having run for high office, is that you're still considered somewhat of a hot property by friends, family and consultants looking for a gig.

Darrell said...

Mittens will remember that he can run for President of Mexico shortly. He can then tell Trump that he won't pay for the wall in an email.

Kit Carson said...

uh, professor, i think you better hustle over to drudge for a classic drudgetaposition .

Tank said...

Mitt would be good for Sec of Energy and Education under Trump. He could dismantle those agencies and sell their assets off to pay down the debt.

Brando said...

"Mitt had his chance and he blew it. He lost a winnable race. Now he's let us know he won't cost his party another winnable race?"

2012 may have been "winnable" for the Republicans, but it was a very narrow path to victory. Obama was a lot stronger that year than Republicans figured, with the economy improving, his party united and his own campaign well organized and funded. Considering all that (and the usual GOP circular firing squad of the primaries which left Mitt hobbled by summer) Romney did pretty well in 2012.

This year is winnable, but if the GOP blows it it won't be because of Romney, though I'm sure Trump will try to blame anyone but himself.

I'm Full of Soup said...

What Michael said at 8:26AM and the word dipshit is such a a great word to describe the "Never Trumpers".

james conrad said...

Meanwhile, Rasmussen has Trump up by 4 today.

SteveR said...

He only made a slightly better run 4 years ago than this year.

Gusty Winds said...

Mitt Romney is the Mormon GOP version of Norma Desmond.

Ann Althouse said...

For some reason, of all the Laslo comments, that's the one that made me laugh the most.

tim maguire said...

Brando said...
"Mitt had his chance and he blew it. He lost a winnable race. Now he's let us know he won't cost his party another winnable race?"

2012 may have been "winnable" for the Republicans, but it was a very narrow path to victory.


People say stuff like that, but the reality is you have no evidence to support your claim. You made it up out of whole cloth. Narrow path to victory? Republicans do win from time to time, you know.

The bottom line is, Mitt ran a kid-gloves campaign. He pulled his punches at key moments, was unprepared to respond to foreseeable attacks. He ran like someone who wasn't all that interested in winning, and then, on election day, his GOTV operation fell apart because of poor planning--he failed at what was supposed to be his central strength. His ability to get the job done.

Sure, in part Mitt's campaign was that special kind of stupid you can only get from Republicans--they nominated the one person in the entire party who couldn't run against Obama's biggest weakness. But Mitt failed at the very thing he was supposed to be best at. And all the talk in the world about narrow paths to victory isn't going to get around that fact.

mikee said...

I think Mitt Romney would have made an admirable and successful president, unifying rather than divisive, working for the success of the US along with uplifting efforts for the rest of the world, perhaps boring but not scandalous, and I deeply regret the nefarious methods by which our current president won a second term, especially after seeing his accomplishments during his first term.

Brando said...

"People say stuff like that, but the reality is you have no evidence to support your claim. You made it up out of whole cloth. Narrow path to victory? Republicans do win from time to time, you know."

Ugh, my long comment got ate, so I'll sum up:

1) Romney emerged from the primaries with record high negatives, thanks in part to his primary opponents like Newt continuing attack ads long after he had no chance to win the primary, and establishing Mitt's rep as a "vulture capitalist". That made Obama's job easier.

2) Economy was a lot better than in 2008, but more importantly the general public saw the economy going in the "right direction." It's very hard to beat an incumbent in that environment.

3) Obama had no primary opponents, and his party was united. The GOP had been fighting over immigration, foreign policy, and whether Obama was born in the U.S.

4) Obama had essentially kept his campaign running since 2008, with a massive fundraising and data operation that could well define his opponent before he could define himself, and increase turnout for previously low-turnout groups (blacks and Hispanics) that made even Mitt's very high percentage of the white vote not enough.

5) Democrats' electoral advantage with big states.

6) Love him or hate him, Obama is the best campaigner the Dems put up since Bill Clinton or maybe beyond. He may not appeal to you or me, but he appeals to his base and can reach independents, and he makes very few mistakes (in 2012 I can only think of "you didn't build that" which simply didn't sink him like the GOP hoped).

That doesn't mean it was impossible for Mitt to win, or that Mitt didn't make some mistakes of his own, but the idea that he didn't fight hard enough (he was constantly attacking Obama, it just didn't land enough with the people Mitt needed it to) or that this was an easy race that Mitt blew is, at least in my view, incorrect.

This year, by contrast, is far more winnable for the GOP but let's see how they do.

M Jordan said...

Mitt Romney has revealed the truth of the wisdom of the crowds. Somehow the voters knew not to elect him in 2012, a decision that caused me grief. Now I see their wisdom. He was, under all that coifed exterior, a complete and total arsehole. I did not see this then. I do now. But the voters mysteriously knew. However, balancing that fact is that they didn't seem to recognize that Barack Obama is an even bigger arsehole. Perhaps he's 4 percent less of an arsehole than Romney. I'm dubious. They both seem quite Olympian in their arsehole content.

So my theory is somewhat self-contradictory. But again, they did get it right about Mitt's arseholeaness.

rehajm said...

Up on Lake Winnipesaukee when the extended Romney family gets together there's usually a days long olympic-style competition of lake house fun. So the call sounds to me like classic gamesmanship - get Mitt running for president and someone else finally wins the pancake flipping and water skiing events.

JAORE said...

Shut up and sing, Mitt.

Better yet, just shut up.




eric said...

This is why Trump is polling so poorly in red states. Because stories like this give Republicans some hope that things are happening behind the scenes to replace Trump at the convention.

Darcy said...

Just when many of us had decided never to vote for him again. Sad!

mccullough said...

He's so vain

mockturtle said...

And Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

campy said...

Yawn. It's not like Mittens could've beaten Hillary anyway.

Roughcoat said...

For some reason, of all the Laslo comments, that's the one that made me laugh the most.

It's the dead-pan delivery plus the concision. I laughed too.

Roughcoat said...

M Jordan:

It's okay to write "asshole" on this blog.

Btw, I agree with what you wrote.

Comanche Voter said...

Just Go Away Mitt.

mockturtle said...

I just finished reading Gibbon a while ago: who would have thought our politics would devolve back to the era of dowagers and eunuchs?

There are a LOT of parallels.

Martin said...

Good word choice.

grue·some /ˈɡro͞osəm/ adjective

causing repulsion or horror; grisly.
*******************

Not just the process, but the people doing it.

Fritz said...

If he wanted to stop Trump, he should have won the last election.