The narcissistic fantasy of Romney 2016

What’s left?

The answer is nothing. Nothing besides the contentless ambition, confidence, and competence I first detected in him back in 1999. Romney 2016 will be Proficiency Personified — the ultimate Manager-in-Chief — a consultant for hire, ready, willing, and eager to take charge of the country and do… I actually have no idea what he would do. And neither do you.

And neither does he.

Conservative columnist Ross Douthat touched on this core truth in a humorous tweet written a few days before writing a more polished (but less incisive) column on the once-and-future Romney. Envisioning a seemingly endless series of Romney presidential runs, Douthat tweeted: “Romney 2016: Reform conservative. Romney 2020: Buchananite. Romney 2024: Rothbardian. Romney 2028: Neo-reactionary.”