SAN DIEGO—Mitt Romney is offering a rare glimpse of his softer side as he marches toward an unlikely third presidential bid focused on poverty and the middle class.
Conceding that he’s giving “serious consideration to the future,” the Republican Party’s 2012 presidential nominee on Friday cited the support of his wife, Ann, as he addressed the closing reception of the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting aboard a retired aircraft carrier.
“The last few days, the most frequently asked question I get is, ‘What does Ann think about all this?’” Romney said as his wife looked on. “She believes that people get better with experience. And heaven knows I have experience running for president.”
He later added, “She knows where my heart is.”
Romney earned a standing ovation for his remarks, his first public acknowledgement of 2016 ambitions since privately signaling interest with donors a week earlier. However, RNC members and his prospective opponents were far less welcoming in the days leading up to his appearance.
“The country moves on,” said Henry Barbour, a Republican national committeeman from Mississippi. “And that’s going to be a challenge for Gov. Romney.”
History is not on Romney’s side. Not since Richard Nixon has a Republican presidential nominee lost the general election — John F. Kennedy defeated Nixon in 1960 — and then won the GOP nomination again. Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey in 1968.
