Well, at least Ann Coulter will be happy.

Second Third look at Mitt Romney?

Mitt Romney has said time and time again that he has no interest in running for president a third time.

But, on Sunday morning, CBS’ Bob Schieffer said not to write off the idea of a 2016 campaign by Romney so quickly.

“I have a source that told me that if Jeb Bush decides not to run, that Mitt Romney may actually try it again,” Schieffer said…

Several major Romney donors told The Washington Post earlier this year that Bush would be their preferred Republican candidate in 2016.

Serious (well, not too serious) question: Where’s Romney right now on the 2016 RINO depth chart? Jeb is the first-stringer but there’s a legit chance that he doesn’t run, whether because he doesn’t want the aggravation of climbing a mountain with the Bush ball-and-chain around his ankle or because his wife simply refuses to allow it. Christie’s the second-stringer but a Bridgegate smoking gun could emerge to finish him off. And even if it doesn’t, he might blow up on the launch pad. Between his ideological heresies and the possibility that his persona simply doesn’t wear well outside New Jersey, he might now win a single primary even with establishment money behind him. Could be that some significant number of Republican donors will conclude that he’s a lost cause and pass on him.

That leaves us at third-string. I think that’s Rubio, but there’s a chance that he won’t run either. If he looks at 2016 and concludes that he has no chance of winning the general election, whether because Hillary’s too formidable or because he hasn’t rehabbed sufficiently on immigration yet, he might decide to pass. Remember, if he runs for president, he can’t run for Senate again in Florida. He’d be gambling his political future if he took the plunge. If he’s also out, then who’s the fourth-stringer? I’d say Scott Walker (or maybe Walker’s third-string and Rubio’s fourth-string), but of course he’s facing reelection in Wisconsin this year. If something happens to trip him up, whether scandal-related or otherwise, and he loses the race for governor, then he’s done too.

Which leaves us at the establishment fifth-string. Who’s that? Jindal? I think the donor class would be nervous about riding into battle with him against tea-party heroes as formidable as Paul or Cruz. They want a known quantity whom they can trust to consolidate “somewhat conservative” voters behind him and raise the boatloads of cash needed to squash the tea-party champion in key states. At some point, out of sheer desperation, they would approach Romney and beg him to save them from the CruzPaulpocalypse, whatever it might mean for the general election. What I’m asking is, how far down the chain do you need to go to get to the guy who lost, fairly badly, two years ago? Is he above or below Mitch Daniels? John Thune? Others?