The leader of a campaign to draft Mitt Romney to run for president — again — said he’s simply responding to the groundswell of popular support wanting to see the former Massachusetts governor on the ticket again.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found Romney in the top position among possible 2016 contenders and edging out Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head matchup.
Jeb Bush came in second for the GOP nomination in the poll, but a Clinton-Bush matchup puts the former Florida governor five points behind.
Utah Republican Party Chairman James Evans told Fox News that Romney has made “a lot of different statements” about future aspirations, leaving his supporters’ dreams alive.
“I would ask that you look at the chorus of individuals just from every spectrum of our society encouraging Governor Romney to run again,” Evans said.
“And I think that says a lot. So, while we started with a draft Mitt effort, this has gone far beyond our grass-roots effort. You have those at the top of the political spectrum encouraging Governor Romney to run, all the way down to grassroots individuals like myself,” he continued. “So the bottom line is, is that the demand is there. Governor Romney is the supply. He’s a businessman. And he knows the law of economics, supply and demand.”
Evans argued that it “states volumes” for a Romney candidacy that he hasn’t even said he wants to run yet beats out a vast pack of other hopefuls or potential candidates.
“So, if I were Governor Romney, I would also play it a little cool and make sure that I can have everything in place, and, if I choose to run, then I will choose the time and place of my announcement,” he said. “But I wouldn’t be rushed into it.”
The state party chairman said the movement to draft Romney isn’t connected to the 2012 candidate in any way: “The easiest way to think of us is that we’re kind of peasants out of there.”
“Governor Romney is a resident of Utah, and he will make an extraordinary president.… Governor Romney has a track record of resolving issues, fixing problems, and putting us in a better position than we were before.”
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