In news that should surprise exactly no one, Mitt Romney has publicly acknowledged that he’s testing the presidential waters. He still says he’s "planning on running for Governor" and will make a final decision in the fall. Translating: "It’ll take me a few months to figure out whether I have any shot at the presidency, and if I don’t, oh, OK, I guess I’ll run for Governor again as sort of a crappy consolation prize." Nice – exactly what we need running our state.
In response, Deval Patrick fired off a statement to Blue Mass. Group (and, we suspect, to others!) noting that Romney’s presidential aspirations were "no surprise," that Romney’s "heart has never been in the job," and that too many of Romney’s 903 days in office had been spent "traveling across the country making fun of Massachusetts to score political points," which "does nothing to help the people" of the Commonwealth. Seems about right to me.
This must be driving Charlie Baker and Michael Sullivan nuts. Everybody knows that Romney’s going to ditch the 2006 gubernatorial campaign and run for Prez in 2008. Yet, until Romney officially announces these intentions, Kerry Healey’s the only one who can raise money for a state-wide campaign. Baker and/or Sullivan would never announce before Romney officially withdraws because they don’t want to make it seem as though they would run against him on the off chance that he changes his mind and runs in MA. Will the State Rep. Party stand for this, or will they let Romney do whatever he wants and screw Baker and Sullivan as he’s traveling to each precinct in South Carolina? Is Romney doing this as a favor to Healey, or does he really need 4-5 more months to make up his mind?