GOP/POLITICAL FIGURES/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Sen. Orrin G. Hatch’s announcement Tuesday [1-2-18] that he would retire rather than seek an eighth term representing Utah opened the door to a return to public office by Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee and a sometimes harsh critic of President Trump.
The contentiousness between the president and Romney has been so acute that Trump had publicly implored Hatch to run again, a barely veiled effort to deny Romney a route to the Senate. But at 83, having spent nearly half his life as a senator, Hatch spurned the president’s request and made good on his long-ago vow to leave office at the conclusion of his current term. He will depart as the longest-serving Republican in the Senate’s history…
Their announcements may lead to competitive races that could further curb the narrow Republican control of the Senate. Their departures also created a vacuum into which Romney could slide if elected, as the highest-profile Republican critic of the president.
Romney was not expected to announce his decision for several days or perhaps two weeks, one advisor said. If he does run, as is widely expected, he would start as a prohibitive favorite in a state where he is far more popular than the president…
Trump tweeted his support for Romney throughout that campaign — but when it came time to launch his own bid, Trump made Romney the target of wounding barbs, calling him a ‘failed presidential candidate’ who was ‘awkward’ and ‘goofy.’
Romney returned the favor with a blistering denunciation of Trump in early March of 2016, part of an unsuccessful effort to rally Republican opposition to his candidacy.”
-Cathleen Decker, “A longtime Republican senator says he’ll retire, and the White House nervously eyes his likely successor, Mitt Romney,” The Los Angeles Times online, Jan. 2, 2018 06:05pm