I was skeptical when I saw a Trump supporter ranting about Mitt Romney declaring candidacy to “steal” the nomination from Donald Trump, but I did some research, And I found that indeed, there was legitimately filing for “Romney for President, Inc” at the FEC.gov site thirty-four days ago, here it is.
A “Statement of Organization” was filed with the Federal Election Commission for an organization called, “Romney for President, Inc.” These statements according to the FEC are used to “register campaign committees.”
It was filed by Red Curve Solutions, whose website describes the company as thus:
Red Curve was founded during the 2008 election cycle by Bradley Crate, the Deputy CFO of the Romney for President campaign. He recognized the need for a more structured approach to campaign compliance and treasury management. Using a full service model and leveraging innovative technology, Red Curve Solutions solves the complex problems posed by the financial logistics of modern political campaigns.
A Romney presidential bid is a bit off topic for Crate as he’s been focusing on campaign finance since 2012. But Bradley Crate is indeed a legitimate, close and longtime ally of Mitt Romney. This makes the possibility that “Romney for President, Inc” 2016 is just a rouge operation extremely unlikely.
I wasn’t giving much serious consideration to the idea that there was a secret plan afoot to nominate Mitt Romney at the Republican National Convention. I didn’t think even they would be that stupid. Romney epitomizes everything the angry tea party is revolting against in the GOP. Trump ascendency is in part fueled by anger “the establishment” forced a wimpy, fake conservative down their throat in 2012. This time they would nominate a “true conservative” and a “real fighter!”
But among all the post-speech talk of “what is Romney up?” and even outright speculation he was after the nomination, I didn’t hear one pundit or reporter mention his paperwork is apparently covered for the 2016 general. Did I miss this?
A Romney nomination redux would basically challenge the 30-40% of Republicans who support Donald Trump to walk out of the 2016 contest altogether. No matter how legitimately it is conducted rules wise, well… just look at the 1968 Democratic nominee to see how well those maneuvers turn out.
Romney 3.0 might, or even likely, provide the impetus for the Tea Party monster to finally break free of the “tyranny” of the GOP and form their own third party. Or maybe they could join an existing third party. I hear the Reform Party is probably a better fit.
Whoever is pulling the strings on “Romney for President, Inc.” 2016 couldn’t possibly believe it would result in anything than an electoral wipe out, could they?
Or maybe the establishment forces have already resigned themselves to losing the White House and just hope to salvage some an infinitesimal shred of dignity from the burning dumpster that is their 2016 campaign? But that would be a return to reality-based politics. Can the GOP do that again?
Update: Bradley Crate says there’s nothing to see here, folks.
