http://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2016/05/07/hmmm-mitt-romney-met-with-bill-kristol-over-independent-2016-candidacy-n2159560Hmmm: Mitt Romney Is Being Courted To Consider Running As An Independent
Matt Vespa
Posted: May 07, 2016 3:15 PM
Some 2016 intrigue coming from The Washington Post’s Robert Costa, who reported on a meeting Mitt Romney had with the Weekly Standard’s William Kristol last Thursday on the possibility of running as a third party candidate. Kristol is part of a large swath of conservatives within the Republican Party, who are highly skeptical of presumptive nominee Donald Trump on a whole host of issues—the most obvious being that the billionaire magnate isn’t even a conservative Republican:
William Kristol, the longtime editor of the Weekly Standard magazine and a leading voice on the right, met privately with the 2012 nominee on Thursday afternoon to discuss the possibility of launching an independent bid, potentially with Romney as its standard-bearer.
“He came pretty close to being elected president, so I thought he may consider doing it, especially since he has been very forthright in explaining why Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton should not be president of the United States,” Kristol said in a phone interview Friday, during which he confirmed that he and Romney had a “little meeting in Washington.”
But knowing Romney’s reluctance, Kristol told Romney that if he remains unwilling to run, many top conservatives would appreciate having the former Massachusetts governor’s support for an independent candidate, should Kristol and other right-leaning figures enlist a willing contender.
“Obviously, if there were to be an independent candidacy, Romney’s support would be very important,” Kristol said. “I wanted to get his wisdom on whether it was more or less doable than I thought.”
[…]
Kristol has been working informally for weeks to seek out a prominent political or military figure who could be drafted into the general-election contest, such as retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis, who recently declined such overtures.
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