As I said yesterday, I fully believe that we have not seen the last of Mitt Romney as a Republican Presidential candidate. AND, I believe that the next time we will see him will be three years from now – when he announces his candidacy for the Presidency. Now that McCain has the nomination sewn up, there are four possible situations in 2012:
1) McCain wins, but only wants to serve one term.
2) McCain wins, but continues to aggravate the Conservative base, opening up the door to an internal challenge.
3) McCain wins, and gets the nomination for a second run.
4) McCain loses, and the Republicans run an opponent to the sitting DEM.
Now, everything points to #3 being unlikely. McCain is 72, he would be at least 76 by election day in 2012, and 80 by the time he left office. He is also not the healthiest man alive. There is widespread speculation that McCain would be a one-term President. That also eliminates #2, but I figured I would include it – just in case. So, one way or the other, there is a very good possibility that the GOP will have another open race in four years – and, as one Fox Reporter put it “when candidates get this far, they usually run again”, another suggestion that Romney will be back four years from now. If he wants to do that, and I think he does, he has one problem to solve: keeping his name in the news for the next 2 1/2 years. He has three ways he can do this:
Romney as VP– lets make one thing completely clear – Mitt Romney and John McCain are not friends. In fact, they are about as far from being friends as it is possible to be without wanting to throw each other into the ocean. With all that said, both are grown men, and both probably have enough sense to set aside the hate and unite for mutual benefit and the good of the party. A McCain/Romney ticket would go about as far as possible in uniting the party, and where McCain fails, be it in attracting support from a particular group or region, or in personal qualities, that is where Romney usually shines. There are a near-perfect combination, and both have a lot to gain from a ticket. Romney would become the heir apparent for the party, and McCain would go a long way in solving many of his problems.
Romney as an administration official – This is pretty much the same as above, but, if McCain and Romney are unable to bridge their personal opposition to each other enough to get onto the same ticket, there still may be a place for Mitt in a McCain administration, as a cabinet official, or a policy adviser. It would be a slightly lower profile for Mitt, but still enough to give him a great shot in the next contest.
Romney as a Conservative leader – Lets assume what many have already assumed: that, because of the personal animosity, John McCain will not give Romney a spot in his administration. I don’t know if that is likely or not, but some say it is. Romney does not necessarily have to be in a government post to remain a big Conservative name. There are several options open to Mitt that would allow him to remain in the news, spread his conservative views, increase his name recognition, and serve as a jumping-off point in four years. From RNC chairman to Fox News contributor – there are a wealth of possibilities.
We are just going to have to wait and see what happens.
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