What a difference a few months makes. Now, multiple sources inside the Romney bubble tell me (and everyone else) that they “bet” that he gets in the race. And we will know something within “the next few weeks.” He had a great midterm election, they point out. (As in: he campaigned like crazy for candidates who won in red states that Romney had won.) He believes that he was right on foreign policy positions that he was “mocked” for during the 2012 campaign. (As in: Russia is our “No.1 geopolitical foe.”) Oh, and by the way, he still thinks he can manage the economy better than anyone out there.
But, almost to a person, those close to Romney also say this: don’t get too analytical about this new decision. One source close to Romney, who has spoken with him about this calculation, puts it this way: “This is about the burning ambition of a guy who believes he would be a great president. He believes he is the right guy for the job. Period. It’s not complicated.”
Which brings us to the rationale for the rest of the ever-expanding field, which is also not complicated: why not run? It’s not very often that you have the conjunction of two key situations — an open Oval Office and a party without an obvious frontrunner. The GOP establishment has not coalesced around New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, as some thought might happen. Jeb Bush, another somewhat unexpected contender, has never run in a presidential primary. The tea party has a gaggle of candidates to choose from, and hasn’t settled, either.
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