Mitt Romney Readies for 2016 Reboot

As if the looming prospect of a Hillary Clinton-Jeb Bush 2016 déjà vu-fest weren’t already giving us a bad case of political whiplash, here comes 2012’s square-jawed champion of the conservative elite, Mitt Romney, to further amplify Americans’ nagging feeling that we’ve all been to this rodeo before. Several times.

The former Massachusetts governor and two-time Republican presidential hopeful has apparently been emitting strong enough signals of his potential designs on the White House that the BBC has picked up Romney’s eager vibe from across the pond:

Last week he told Republican donors in New York he was interested in running.

If he does, he could be up against Jeb Bush for the party nomination and then Hillary Clinton in a general election.

The Washington media is abuzz with reports that Mr Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, has spent the past few days reaching out to political allies and potential sources of campaign funding.

Amid Republican rumblings from the supporters and camps of Ted Cruz, Chris Christie and of course the Third Bush, Romney’s likely to have a tough time proving to the GOP faithful that three’s the charm.

The BBC pointed out, per Politico, that Romney is also considering how to pull off the challenging task of rebranding himself as a candidate who can speak to the needs and interests of lower-income Americans.

Clearly, there have got to be some considerable, if not immediately apparent, advantages — future prospects of plum jobs and pundit gigs, for example, or lucrative spots on the speakers’ circuit, or just staying “relevant” — for unlikely candidates to run the presidential campaign gamut. Or maybe Mitt will surprise us all yet.

–Posted by Kasia Anderson