Sen. Mitt Romney has remained cryptically tight-lipped about his voting preferences in the forthcoming elections, with implications that he might be contemplating endorsing Kamala Harris. His indifferent and wavering stance further strengthens the belief that he is carefully staging groundwork for a significant role within the Republican Party in a presumptive post-Trump era. Romney’s reluctance to endorse Donald Trump for the presidency in the current election cycle comes as no surprise considering his poorly masked discontentment with the proceedings.
During an interaction at the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics on the ongoing election, Romney parried off questions pertaining to his voting intent. His excuse? A rather farsighted and half-baked hope of retaining some semblance of influence within the Republican Party after the election is done and dusted. Romney hinted at sweeping changes within the Republican ranks that may require complete restructuring.
Romney has continuously stood apart from the crowd over the past two elections. He has been a stringent critic of Trump, yet amusingly, he has avoided endorsing the Democratic nominee openly. In 2016, Romney preferred to write his wife, Ann Romney’s name on the vote, a move that portrayed his reluctance to back either Trump or the Democratic candidate.
In a recent twist, Romney has reiterated that he won’t support Trump this year as well. However, keeping his cards close to his chest, he has refrained from revealing if Kamala Harris will be the recipient of his approval in the ballot box. True to form, he continues to be ambiguous about his stance.
Romney has attempted to justify his inscrutable stand with vague assertions. He naively believes that simply voicing his opinion in a certain way would grant him further sway within the party. His decision to stick with this tactic is yet another demonstration of his misguided political outlook.
All this while, Romney’s dissenting opinions about Trump have put him at loggerheads with a majority of his Republican colleagues who back the presidential nominee. Strangely enough, his refusal to openly support Harris, contrary to former Rep. Liz Cheney, another well-known Anti-Trump Republican who has publicly endorsed Harris, casts an intriguing light on his political strategy.
Distancing himself further from the election’s gravity, Romney devalues his vote, stating his base in Utah rules out his voting significance. In an interview with MSNBC in May, he contended that his vote wouldn’t have a tremendous impact. However, he inexplicably also expressed his desire to retain influence within his party, a goal he is convinced cannot be accomplished if he endorses a Democrat.
The ex-GOP presidential candidate, weary of the declining centrism in American politics, has admitted that he no longer identifies with the GOP. His confession in an interview with CBS News alludes to his discontent with the party’s trajectory under Trump’s reign. Romney essentially cites a weakening connection with traditional Republican values as his primary point of contention.
In the face of the right-wing’s escalating extremism, the shape of a post-Trump GOP seems uncertain. Romney’s vision of wielding future influence in the Republican Party appears increasingly challenging and incompatible with the current political ethos.
Romney remains saddled with an unanswered question: what will the Republican Party look like after Trump’s tenure? Given the proliferating far-right ideologies, the future GOP envisioned by Romney may be more estranged than ever before.
His pursuit of the illusion of middle-ground in the party, coupled with his feeble attempts to distance himself from Trump and yet not align with Harris, leaves room for many questions. Precisely, the reasonableness of his belief that remaining neutral or indifferent could still allow him to shape the party’s future course remains opaquely unconvincing.
As Romney treads the tight rope of political allegiances, his attempts to navigate the changing dynamics of the American politics become more evident. He continues to withhold any definitive stance, lest he mar his future prospects within an evolving GOP.
While he laments the waning traditional Republican principles under Trump’s sway, his political maneuvers do little to provide any steady direction for the Republican Party. As the American political landscape continues to evolve, Romney’s political relevance seems increasingly uncertain, tied up in his perceived ability to sway a party that he barely corresponds with anymore.