He was hoping to be in the Oval Office. Instead, Mitt Romney has a desk at his son Tagg’s office.
Unlike previous presidential losers John McCain, John Kerry, Al Gore, and Bob Dole, Romney didn’t have a job to go to after election day. His job for the last six years was running for president. Romney first declared his ’08 candidacy in February 2007, saying, “Talk is easy, talk is cheap. It is doing that is hard. And it is only in doing that hope and dreams come to life.”
So what has the “Rominee,” as Alex Wagner dubbed the former governor earlier this year, been up to since losing to President Obama? A Reddit user gave the internet its first glance at Romney post-election—looking disheveled at a gas station in Southern California. But the announcement Monday afternoon that Romney has rejoined the board of directors of Marriott International suggests he is getting back to his business roots. Romney served on the Marriott International board from 1993 to 2002 before leaving to run for governor of Massachusetts. He also served on the board between his two presidential campaigns, from 2009 to 2011. The Marriotts are a prominent Mormon family.
According to a new Washington Post profile, Romney has been spending time at his beach house in La Jolla, Calif., “pecking away at his iPad and e-mailing his CEO buddies who have been swooping in and out of La Jolla to visit.” Friends and advisers interviewed for the profile described Romney as “disappointed” and bored, saying that he’s retreated into seclusion. They insist he is not bitter, however, and that Romney is no sore loser.
“He’s not crying on anybody’s shoulders. He’s not blaming anybody. . . . He’s doing a lot of personal introspection about the whole process—and I’m not even sure that’s healthy. There’s nothing you can do about it now,” John Miller, co-chair of Romney’s finance committee, told the Post.
Romney has not spoken publicly since his concession speech on election night. He was quoted in a post-vote call to donors talking about President Obama’s “gifts” to minorities and women, and the Republican Party—which struggled to embrace him during the primaries—has largely shunned him since. Most recently, Romney was spotted with his family at Disneyland and lunching with the president at the White House. Sources tell the Post that Romney has no plans to run for any political office again, and is considering writing a book. He’s also been seen with Ann, chowing down on comfort food.
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