Romney 2016?

The day after Romney lost in 2012, a Facebook page was started called “Mitt Romney for President 2016.” “My ‘Romney’ sign is ready to put on my front lawn. Just need to hear he is running. I saved it from the last election,” said one post. “Please run again Mr. Romney. I think America has learned!” said another.

Still, the page has only 1,469 likes — not even enough to win some Iowa counties.

The buzz around Romney running was sufficient enough that Purple Strategies, a Virginia-based firm, included Romney in a poll of New Hampshire voters three weeks ago. He came out on top, with 25 percent, among Republican primary voters.

Yet Republican activists in early primary states say they have a hard time imagining a Romney run. “I don’t think anyone is taking the prospect of him running again seriously at all,” said Fergus Cullen, a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party.

“There’s not a lot of animosity toward Romney,” Cullen said. “There’s a lot of respect and fondness for him. There’s a lot of gratitude for the investment he made in trying to become president. But, you know, it didn’t work out. It’s pretty rare in politics that someone takes three shots at something.”