Romney Says He's Out of 2016 Presidential Race, To Little Surprise Inside GOP
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said today he is not going to run for president again in 2016.
Republican strategists in Pennsylvania and elsewhere say they're not surprised by Romney's decision.
To some, it was almost more of a surprise that Romney was ever talking about getting back into the race, given his wife's "never again" pronouncement after the 2012 campaign.
Philadelphia-based political consultant Jeff Jubelirer thinks family concerns were primary to Romney's decision.
"I'm not saying they didn't have a change of heart or he hadn't convinced them, but that was always something in the back -- to go through another race. I can only imagine it's hell," Jubelirer says.
But strategic concerns played a role too, thinks John Brabender, a Santorum campaign adviser.
"There wasn't sort of the coalescing around him that he was hoping to see, so I do think with a really strong field of Republican candidates, everybody's taking a I-want-to-get-to-know-all-the-candidates-better-and-I'm-not-going-to-make-any-determinations-early (stance)," Brabender tells KYW Newsradio.
The announcement still leaves a crowded field fighting to face a Democrat who's likely to have an easier path to nomination.