I have always admired Mitt Romney for his brilliance. I voted for the man multiple times over a period of years and would do so again in a heartbeat. Mitt Romney famously said that Russia was our next geopolitical foe and everyone even Obama laughed in his face! Four years later we have a President that is owned by ex-KGB strongmen and the Russian Mob. Romney also seemingly predicted in his 47% comment how partisan the country was.
I best describe Romney as the guy in Washington who knows everything about everyone with no power to do anything about it. That's about to change. Romney has pretty much stayed out of the spotlight while securing his election to the Utah Senate. Crushing any chance of a blue wave there. He has 90+% approval in the state. Plus he fared way better than Mia Love. He won the election with 72 percent of the vote. Love lost by nearly 700 votes.
Romney is said to seek three key positions in Senate: The Foreign Relations Committee. The Finance Committee. The Commerce Committee. Romney is set to replace retiring Orin Hatch as President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Who just so happens to be third in the line of succession. Paul Ryan is retiring and Romney pretty much can hand pick the speaker position. Romney also flirted with the Secretary of State job which actually seems to be a less powerful position than what he has now.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is already starting his re-election campaign for 2020, but Romney is eyeing the job of Senate Majority Leader for himself as well! He is realizing his dreams of remaking the Republican Party in his image and he has plans in place long after Trump is gone. No matter if it's 2020 or even earlier.
Analysts are confused by Romney's entry into becoming a freshman senator, but one thing most people agree on is that if Trump doesn't run in 2020, Romney will have built up enough of the Republican Party to take it back and be almost undefeatable in a primary. Many believe that Romney will have a hard time beating Trump, but it's smooth sailing to the Presidency if Trump doesn't run.
Another option for Romney could be that if Trump does run, and he does run. He could re-launch NeverTrump efforts and form his own political party, and run as an independent with a number of moderate Republicans at his side. He certainly has the finances to do this, the sanity, and the political muscle.
Romney's rise to President all depends on what happens with the Mueller report and who goes down in the Republican Party. With dozens of sealed indictments and almost no high profile Republican targeted yet, you know senators and house members long suspected of having Russian ties are going down. Romney knows more than we do. That is almost a certainty. He sees an in and he is taking it.
Trump's power past 2020, rests on his current few people remaining, remaining in power and not going to jail. In near or far future investigations which is almost impossible to escape from. Trump has made almost no friends in the Republican Party and does little in the way of basic political deal-making that is required to get things done. With many conservative republicans and others saying he doesn't have the capacity to think that way. He's too reactive and only cares about loyalty without giving it. Romney is a completely different political animal.
Let the games begin!
