HH: … I want to ask you the Politico question. In today’s Politico, Robert C. O’Brien and I write an article called Romney 3.0, Third Time’s A Charm. What do you think? Is it possible he’s going to get in?
CT: I think he only gets in if he’s drafted. I feel like that that’s the hint he’s been saying, and I’ve talked to some folks who know him very well. He is not going to go through a grueling primary campaign. He is not going to sit here and defend his conservative credentials again, go through schlepping around, allowing all these guys to take pot shots on him. I think he is open to this if it’s a draft movement, and if it’s sort of like everybody else doesn’t fit.
Now here’s why I think Mitt Romney, it’s funny you bring this up, because I think the reason why Romney 3.0 has gotten traction is less about Romney, and more about the current issues of the day. I think the Republican 2016 field as we thought we knew it, think Scott Walker, think Chris Christie, think Marco Rubio, think Bobby Jindal, you know, throw those names in. I think if you have issues like national security front and center, that’s an incredibly shrinking, I feel like all of those guys are suddenly shrinking in stature. None of them, if the chief criticism of Barack Obama by a lot of people is you know what, he just wasn’t experienced enough, he just didn’t have a grasp of everything you needed to know to be able to be commander-in-chief, right?
HH: Yeah.
CT: That’s among, particularly among the conservative criticisms. Well then, how does Scott Walker fit into that? How does Chris Christie? How does Bobby Jindal? How does Marco Rubio? You know, they don’t, and so suddenly, Mitt Romney, while not having a lot of experience on foreign policy, certainly running for president and certainly now he can go back and say hey, I made these points against the President, and I look a little more prescient today than maybe some people thought three years ago.
So I think that’s why he seems to look larger right now in stature because of the issues of the day that are front and center, and if you look at the rest of this Republican field. They don’t seem as if they have the resume to reassure hawks in the party.
HH: Prescient as always. Chuck Todd, we’ll be watching Sunday for Jim Baker. Thanks for joining us.
Todd’s absolutely correct. All of these ex-Governors with no foreign policy experience don’t look all that exciting when the focus is on foreign policy. That’s why Mitt Romney, the ex-Governor with no foreign policy experience, is such an intriguing prospect. He’s run for president twice and lost which is almost the same thing as being Commander in Chief. Plus he can say I told you so, which is always a reassuring appeal.
Really, is there any other choice?
Prescient as always.