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Mitt Romney to provide ‘update’ on his 2016 decision Friday Mitt Romney decides against running for president again in 2016
(about 3 hours later)
Mitt Romney will provide an "update" on his decision about whether to run for president at 11 a.m. Friday in a conference call with his supporters, according to an e-mail he sent to his political network on Thursday night that was obtained by The Washington Post. Mitt Romney told supporters Friday that he would not run for president in 2016, ending three weeks of public speculation and sparing the Republican Party a potentially bruising nominating battle between its past nominee and its rising stars.
The 2012 Republican presidential nominee has been publicly weighing a third run at the White House for three weeks, since telling a group of former campaign donors in New York on Jan. 9 that he still wanted to be president. “After putting considerable thought into making another run for president, I’ve decided it is best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee,” Romney said in a statement he read to supporters on a conference call Friday morning.
Since then, Romney has called hundreds of advisers, friends and other supporters to gauge the depth of his support and seek their counsel. People close to Romney said he believes he would have enough major donors behind him again to wage a competitive campaign. In his remarks, first reported by radio host Hugh Hewitt, Romney said that he had enough support from potential donors to be “more than competitive” and that the positive reaction he heard from Republican activists was “surprising and heartening.” He noted that he had been leading in recent public polls.
“I am convinced that we could win the nomination, but fully realize it would have been difficult test and a hard fight,” Romney said.
Romney has been publicly weighing a third run at the White House for three weeks now after telling a group of former campaign donors in New York on Jan. 9 that he still wanted to be president.
Romney’s 2016 dalliance invited a barrage of critical reaction from some Republican leaders and conservative commentators. The Wall Street Journal editorial page was particularly harsh, describing Romney’s political profile as “protean,” his managerial skills questionable based on how the 2012 campaign was run as, his political team as “mediocre.”
But advisers discounted the impact those criticisms would have on the former Massachusetts governor’s ultimate decision. Instead, they said, Romney was spending his time as he always had under such circumstances: gathering data, speaking to as many people as possible and then weighing the evidence before making any final decision.
In his recent conversations with intimates as well as his public appearances, Romney has sounded eager still to step back into the political ring. Romney signaled that his campaign would focus on three themes: foreign policy, expanding opportunities for the middle class, and eradicating poverty.
Throughout January, Romney has been calling hundreds of advisers, friends and other supporters to gauge the depth of his support and seek their counsel. People close to Romney said he has calculated that he would have enough major donors behind him again to wage a competitive campaign.
Those who have spoken to Romney said they came away from the conversations believing he was likely to run again for several reasons, including that he views the emerging GOP field of contenders as too weak to defeat likely Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, that he believes he would be a better candidate after his experiences in 2012, and that he sensed an opportunity to win.Those who have spoken to Romney said they came away from the conversations believing he was likely to run again for several reasons, including that he views the emerging GOP field of contenders as too weak to defeat likely Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, that he believes he would be a better candidate after his experiences in 2012, and that he sensed an opportunity to win.
Even as Romney stepped toward another run, he has dealt with some serious defections from his political operation and donor network. On Thursday, David Kochel, an adviser to Romney for more than a decade and his top strategist in Iowa, announced he would work instead for Jeb Bush. Should Bush launch a presidential campaign, Kochel is in line to become national campaign manager. In a speech to the Republican National Committee meeting in San Diego two weeks ago, Romney said that dealing with wage stagnation, the middle class economic squeeze and lifting people out poverty should be among the handful of pillars for a 2016 GOP campaign.
The Kochel move shook some in Romney's orbit, which had included the former aide on some recent strategy talks and believed he would be on board with Romney in 2016. But two close Romney advisers said Kochel's departure would have no impact on whether he decides to run. At the same meeting, Romney also signaled that, if he ran, he would be far more forthcoming about –and presumably comfortable with – his Mormon faith, something he avoided talking about in his first two campaigns. Romney has told friends that he wants to be a more authentic candidate in 2016 than he was in 2008 or in 2012, showcasing this and other aspects of his biography that he has long kept from public view.
Still, Romney has told allies that he knows he has little time to make up his mind because the 2016 race, on the Republican side at least, is moving forward so quickly and he risks losing more staff and donors to rival campaigns. This was Romney’s way of trying to tell people that the stereotype of him as a cold-hearted businessman was a false construct by his opponents, that instead his faith and good works would show a more empathetic side to the public.
“There’s more urgency for him to make a decision now," one former Romney campaign official, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, said on Thursday. "If he’s going to do it, he needs to sign people up ASAP or he’ll lose everybody. He can’t wait any longer. His ability to even get in the race is slipping away.”​ Still, Romney’s interest in running and the agenda he said Republicans should run on in 2016 raised more questions than answers — including whether the new agenda and openness about his religion reflected the real heart and soul of the 2012 GOP nominee or was it one more calculated political shift by a man driven by his ambition to be president at whatever cost.
On Wednesday night at Mississippi State University, his most recent public appearance, Romney showed a hunger to step back into the political ring and sounded like a candidate. He sharply attacked Clinton, calling her "clueless," and said the nation is on decline under President Obama but that it could turn a corner "with the right kind of leadership." Even as Romney stepped toward another run, he dealt with some serious defections from his political operation and donor network. On Thursday, David Kochel, an adviser to Romney for more than a decade and his top strategist in Iowa, announced he would work instead for Bush. Should Bush launch a presidential campaign, Kochel is in line to become national campaign manager.
The Kochel move shook some in Romney’s orbit, which had included the former aide on some recent strategy talks and believed he would be on board with Romney in 2016. But two close Romney advisers said Kochel’s departure had no impact on his decision.
Still, Romney knew he had little time to make up his mind because the 2016 race, on the Republican side at least, is moving forward so quickly and he risks losing more staff and donors to rival campaigns.
Bush in particular has taken aggressive steps toward a campaign, setting up a leadership PAC and a super PAC, both with the name “Right to Rise.” He has been traveling around the country meeting with donors and other influential party figures and test-driving a campaign message centered squarely on middle-class opportunity.
Bush gave a well-received speech last Friday in San Francisco, signaling to the National Automobile Dealers Association that he would have “adult conversations” on big issues and challenge the country to question “every aspect of how government works.”
Romney, too, gave a campaign-style speech this week. At Mississippi State University on Wednesday night, he sharply attacked Clinton, calling her “clueless,” and said the nation is on decline under President Obama but that it could turn a corner “with the right kind of leadership.”
Many longtime figures in Romney’s political orbit advised him through his deliberations, including former Utah governor Michael O. Leavitt, strategist Stuart Stevens, close friend Bob White, political advisers Beth Myers, Eric Fehrnstrom and Peter Flaherty, and policy adviser Lanhee Chen.
Romney first declared his interest in another run on Jan. 9, when he told about 30 donors in New York, “I want to be president.” He told the donors that his wife, Ann, who earlier had said she was emphatically against a run, had changed her mind and was now on board.
Romney’s announcement Friday comes a day before arriving in Washington for the annual dinner of the exclusive Alfalfa Club, where he is being inducted as a new member.
Seven Bush family members are members, but none is attending the annual dinner on Saturday night. As a result, one member says, attention will focus heavily on Romney. The former Massachusetts governor will be seated at the head table next to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, both potential 2016 rivals.
Matea Gold and Tom Hamburger contributed to this report.