The ‘why’ behind the effort to recruit Romney for president in 2024
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The woman behind an effort to persuade Sen. Mitt Romney to run for president on a bipartisan ticket said it wouldn’t be the first time the former Massachusetts governor was recruited for public office.
It took prodding from prominent party members, as well as a grassroots display of support through polling, signature-gathering and fundraising, to overcome Romney’s hesitancy to transition from leading the 2002 Winter Olympics to launching a gubernatorial campaign, according to Jennifer Franks, chair of the newly-created “Draft Romney Manchin Committee.”
Now, in the face of a potential rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Franks’ political action committee aims to provide the numbers to prove to Romney, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and their third-party vehicle, No Labels, that the two-time presidential candidate and his hypothetical running mate have a pathway to victory.
“(Romney) was drafted then, he went on, and he won, and he did great things for Massachusetts as governor,” said Frank, a Boston native, and longtime political consultant. “So we’re sort of taking a page out of that playbook. There were concerned citizens that wanted him then, and now we want him with Manchin by his side.”
Franks, a mother of four small children, wagers the discontent she feels toward a Trump-Biden matchup in 2024 and what it means for the country her kids will grow up in is shared by a plurality of fellow voters. She hopes the work being done by No Labels to secure ballot access in all 50 states will pave the way for her two favorite political centrists to put that bet to the test.
But she’ll have to get them on board first.
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Created on Nov. 8, the Draft Romney/Manchin Committee has launched a petition gathering signatures of those interested in seeing a bipartisan ticket “bridge the divide between political extremes.” The committee is currently asking for donations to fund polling in Arizona, Michigan and other swing states to demonstrate that Romney and Manchin, as president and vice president, respectively, can win the White House rather than serve as spoilers.
“I’ve always been a Mitt Romney fan and I’m certainly a Manchin fan,” Franks said. “They have a great track record of working together in a bipartisan manner to get what needs to be done for the American people.”
Romney and Manchin have long been across-the-aisle allies, working together as members of the bipartisan group responsible for securing passage of the 2021 infrastructure package, and recently introducing the Fiscal Stability Act which would establish a commission to recommend debt-reduction policies.
By demonstrating a path to victory for a novel third-party bid, the Draft Romney/Manchin Committee hopes to persuade the candidates, who have both toyed with the idea of running for president or launching a new party, that this is their chance.
“I really, really believe that this opportunity is the moment to change the trajectory of our country and the way that it’s going,” Franks said.
Aside from the historically poor favorability ratings of the two candidates most likely to represent the major parties in 2024, Franks said No Labels, a nonprofit behind the effort to gain ballot access in all 50 states as an “insurance policy” to prevent a second Trump term, is responsible for the birth of “Draft Romney Manchin.”
“What they’re doing is they’re creating this opportunity,” Franks said. “And so I got to do something.”
If Romney and Manchin express openness to sit atop a “unity ticket,” Franks said, they have a good chance of being nominated during No Labels’ spring delegate convention.
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But, after his announcement that he will not seek reelection to the Senate which coincided with the publishing of a self-titled biography, the question remains of whether Romney, age 76, is up to a third bid.
Franks is convinced a repeat from two decades ago is possible.
The 2002 Olympics hadn’t even ended when Romney began to hear public calls for him to return to Massachusetts and run for governor, the Deseret News reported at the time. Romney remained undecided in response to these pleas to “save Massachusetts” from fiscal free-fall until polls showed him with an insurmountable lead over the Republican incumbent.
Franks’ petition asks voters to send Romney a similar message. However, a third-party presidential bid is something Romney has already thoroughly considered and rejected after concluding an independent run in 2020 could ensure a Trump victory.
“I know that it’s been said that there that Romney would not run,” Franks said. “But I think that we can show him that there’s a path to victory and that a third round draft pick is the moment.”
Franks acknowledges that success for her project would be an “unlikely story.” But she says as a mother she wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if she didn’t try to provide the American people with “better choices” so they aren’t forced to choose “between the lesser of two evils.”
“I certainly can’t in good faith say to my kids every single day, ‘Go make good choices’ when I can’t even make good choices that ultimately affects families and the American people,” Franks said. “So I want to put other options out there. I want more options. I want more choices.”
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