Romney? In the Senate? Not if Massachusetts voters can help it...

by: Jay Stevens

Wed Aug 26, 2009 at 19:18:28 PM MST

Surprisingly enough, this brings things back full circle to Romney, who up to now has been busy laying the groundwork for another presidential bid in 2012. It would be an intriguing thing if, after waiting a day or two out of respect for the late senator, Romney were to downshift and announce he will be a candidate in the upcoming election to fill Kennedy's vacant Senate seat.

Such an announcement would likely be embraced immediately by the Republicans, who would like almost nothing more than to deny Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada his new, hard-won, 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority. As a self-funding candidate who has already been elected once statewide, Romney has nearly 100 percent name ID. And, in an environment where President Obama seems to be dragging the Democrats down, he would be a serious threat to the Democratic hegemony in Massachusetts's congressional delegation. Meaning Romney likely would win.

I mean, Romney declined to run for a second term because voters hated him so much. Remember, he's talking about a guy who won only 51% of the vote in the Republican presidential primary in 2008.

Funny that Roff fails to speculate what a humiliating loss to Joe Kennedy II would do to Romney's 2012 presidential ambitions...