The party elders (and especially the moneymen) convinced him otherwise. And Mr. Romney himself described what should come next: “I believe that one of our next generation of Republican leaders, one who may not be as well known as I am today, one who has not yet taken their message across the country, one who is just getting started, may well emerge as being better able to defeat the Democrat nominee.”

So, too, is it for Hillary Rodham Clinton. Like Mr. Romney, she has run — and lost. America rejected her in 2008, picking a first-term senator instead. She likely will run — her hubris knows no bounds — but she should heed the lesson Mr. Romney learned.

She, like Mr. Romney, is 67. And her ideas, like Mr. Romney‘s, are simply from the past. More, she is painfully flawed. Rather than retire, bask in grandmothering daughter Chelsea’s new baby, Hillary wants to win the love of all America — so badly she’ll risk everything. The most successful first lady in history — senator, Secretary of State — she needs more, more, more.

But like Mr. Romney, she’s about to learn a hard lesson. If she runs in 2016, she will lose. Then, unlike Mr. Romney, she’ll be a two-time loser. And she’ll be consigned to the dustbin of history — where she’ll belong.