Politics

With safety of a Senate seat, Romney jumps into presidential race

Bob CollinsBob Collins Jan 2, 2019
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Mitt Romney still wants to be president some day and if it comes to pass, he will be the first windsock ever elected to the office.

Romney, who once moved from Utah to Massachusetts because there was a gig available in the state house, recasts himself to whatever fits the moment.

True, he’s one of the few Republicans to speak out against Donald Trump, as he did when he launched the “Never Trump” movement in March 2016, calling him a “phony” and a “fraud.”

But then Trump was elected, was popular with the minority of Americans who voted for him, and Romney needed a job in the administration, meeting with his nemesis in New York, failing to get it, and then targeting the Utah Senate seat from which to relaunch his presidential aspirations.

Ten months ago, he got the presidential kiss after announcing he would run for Orrin Hatch’s Senate seat in Utah.

In November, Romney won his election. In the safety of a six-year term, he’s back on the anti-Trump bus with a Washington Post column today.

To a great degree, a presidency shapes the public character of the nation. A president should unite us and inspire us to follow “our better angels.”

A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse with comity and mutual respect.

As a nation, we have been blessed with presidents who have called on the greatness of the American spirit. With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable. And it is in this province where the incumbent’s shortfall has been most glaring.

If that sounds like a politician announcing his intention to run for the office, it’s only because that’s what it is.

Our two-month breather between campaigns is over.