Now that the midterm elections are over, we as the American populace and Washington as the center of all things political can begin to vet candidates for the granddaddy of them all, the 2016 presidential election. The Democrats are teeter-tottering between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren. But on the GOP side the field seems to grow larger by the day, and it may now include arguably the biggest conservative political personality. When Mitt Romney recently let slip the prospect of another presidential bid in 2016, he drew shouts of satisfaction from some corners of the conservative establishment, while drawing murmurs of dissatisfaction from others.
Romney’s possible 2016 bid shows a great deal of persistence on his part, but does it show sensibility? Romney will have to battle with many of the same issues this time around that he did in 2012 and even in 2008. Fellow GOP hopeful Rick Santorum recently jabbed Romney at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention for being out of touch with America’s working people. Unfortunately for the GOP, the perception of an out-of-touch Mitt Romney is the prevailing sentiment for the party as a whole. Sean Sullivan of The Washington Post notes former candidate and current Congressman David Perdue of Georgia was opened up to “Romney vintage attacks.” Sullivan notes Perdue, who said he spent most of his career outsourcing, is just one of the Republican establishment who fits into this “out of touch” narrative of the GOP, the face of which seems to be Romney.
It also seems to prove more and more difficult for Romney to even make it out of his party’s primary into the general election. It will likely be difficult for Romney to shake the two loss moniker following him, and there are other candidates within his own party who present a great challenge. Jeb Bush, despite his last name, could be the centrist whom the GOP needs to capture a general election win, and only the second victory in the popular vote since 1992. Sen. Marco Rubio also poses a populist threat to Romney. According to Stephanie Condon of CBSNews, Rubio argues, “he’s more focused on the structural problems that have led to economic inequality in the U.S.” As a first-generation Cuban-American, Rubio possesses the human capital to appeal to the Hispanic demographic, a bloc which has long favored the Democrats.
Many have and will likely try to parlay Romney’s time at Bain Capital into credentials which support his ability to maintain and grow a national economy. However, let us not forget the many members of Congress who are businessmen and women. According to Senate.gov, business is the third most common occupation of senators and is the most common of house representatives, and these two groups of people make up a Congress which owns an approval rating of just 16 percent according to a December 2014 Gallup Poll. Correlation certainly does not equal causation, but perhaps this should make us wary, or at least cautious, of another businessman in a position of political power.
Mitt Romney possesses a great deal of expertise. His record with the Winter Olympics and Bain Capital cannot be argued against in a business sense. He has political experience as a governor, which means he has experience as an executive. This political experience is undoubtedly necessary to occupy an office like President of the United States. The chief issue, however, is whether or not the Republican party may have better options for the nation at this point in its history. The GOP establishment will have to decide if Romney is still a viable option as a candidate, or if there is simply too much downside.
