Now that his own political hopes have been snuffed, many of the people closest to Romney say they have no idea what he’ll do next. Senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom, who has been by Romney’s side for over a decade, said he hadn’t given much thought to what the former governor’s next move will be.

“I think he wants to spend a lot of time with his grandkids,” Fehrnstrom said shortly after Romney concluded his brief concession speech here. “There was one point in the night when the results were still coming in, and he turned off the TV to play with his grandkids.”…

As a sea of disappointed supporters digested the results here at Romney campaign headquarters, the only consensus about the nominee’s future was that no one would hazard more than a guess about what it might entail.

One longtime aide who traveled frequently with Romney during the campaign predicted that he might work with some of his sons in their various business ventures, participate in nonprofit causes, or write a book related to his experiences touring America on the campaign trail.