With Mitt Romney’s bombshell declaration to GOP donors on Friday that he is considering a third try for president, no time is being wasted in making good on the quip.
According to Washington Post reports, Romney spent the weekend and early part of this week calling aides and advisers around the country to re-assemble his 2012 campaign team before they are scooped up by other budding campaigns.
Insiders say that Romney’s calls to key Republican leaders detailed that he ‘almost certainly will’ run and included Rep. Paul Ryan, and that it was this call that likely prompted Ryan’s announcement to step out of the ring.
Reportedly Romney indicated on these calls that he intends to run to the right of Jeb Bush who, with the possible exception of Chris Christie, would be the furthest left of all the candidates in the GOP field.
Famed conservative radio host Laura Ingraham detailed of her family’s visit to the Romney ski home in Utah on New Year’s Eve:
“He was relaxed, reflective and was interested in hearing my thoughts on the American working class. He was fully engaged and up to speed on everything happening on [the] domestic and international front. To me, it didn’t seem like he was content to be just a passive player in American politics.”
An official announcement by Romney likely only awaits his having secured key supporters and staffers in an effort to draw a line between himself and Jeb Bush. Having already secured support among key influencers in New Hampshire, Romney’s quick moves have created a bumpy path for Jeb Bush in the coming weeks.