In Romney world, the thinking about a 2016 bid has ratcheted up, and his top donors, most of whom remain quite loyal, have gotten the signal. O’Brien tells me that the shift in his own language reflects what he’s hearing from Romney and his team in Boston, which right now consists only of Spencer Zwick, who served as finance director on both of Romney’s presidential campaigns, and Zwick’s deputy, Matt Waldrip. Both Zwick and Waldrip work with Romney’s eldest son, Tagg, at the Boston-based private-equity firm Solamere Capital. O’Brien has spoken with a number of key donors who have relayed their hope the governor will run; they are sending him the message, either directly or through former staffers, that they want him in the race.
The renewed speculation about Romney’s intentions comes as former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who is likely to kick off his presidential bid in the spring, is beginning to raise money for his newly launched political-action committee. Bush and Romney, both former Republican governors, would occupy the same space in a Republican primary and compete for many of the same donors. A source close to Bush says he is spending the week fundraising in New York City before departing for Boston.
Romney’s money men, for their part, are dismissing any concern that Bush might pick off enough of their top-dollar donors to deprive him of the money — about $75 million — that he’d need to propel him through the primaries. A top Romney bundler says that losing some of 2012’s largest donors to Bush “wouldn’t be a problem,” because Romney could mount a White House bid with “a fifth of the core group that we had before.”
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