Romney drops out of 2016 US presidential race

Former United States Republican party presidential
candidate Mitt Romney, after a three-week flirtation
with another run for president, has definitively said
that he will not seek the White House in 2016.
“After putting considerable thought into making
another run for president, I’ve decided it is best to
give other leaders in the party the opportunity to
become our next nominee,” the Republican Party’s
2012 nominee said in a statement on Friday.
As Romney sounded out his former team about
putting together a new national campaign, he
discovered that several of his past fundraisers had
already made plans for 2016 and were committed
to supporting former Florida Governor Jeb Bush,
the brother and son of former presidents.
The Associated Press news agency reported that
several key former Romney donors said that in
Bush they see someone who can successfully
serve as president, as they believe Romney could.
But they also think Bush has the personality and
senior staff needed to win the White House,
something the former Massachusetts governor
could not bring together in his two previous
presidential campaigns.
The former governor of Massachusetts had jumped
back into the presidential discussion on January
10, when he surprised a small group of former
donors at a meeting in New York by telling them
he was eyeing a third run for the White House.
It was a monumental change for Romney, who
since losing the 2012 election to President Barack
Obama had repeatedly told all who asked that his
career in politics was over and that he would not
again run for president.
The exit of Romney from the upcoming campaign
most immediately benefits the other favourites of
the party’s establishment wing, including Bush,
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Florida
Senator Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Governor
Scott Walker.
The more conservative side of the field is largely
unchanged, with a group of candidates that will
likely include Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, Texas
Senator Ted Cruz and former Arkansas Governor
Mike Huckabee.
Romney’s aides had acknowledged a third
campaign would have been more difficult than his
second, but insisted he would have had the
necessary financial support, noting his supporters
raised more than $1bn during the 2012 election.