7 Pundits Who Wrongly Predicted Mitt Romney Will Run in 2016

Andrew KirellJan 30th, 2015, 1:07 pm
 

If you even remotely follow the news today, you’re well aware that Mitt Romney has announced he will not make a third run for president in the 2016 election. After months of non-committal answers from the former Massachusetts governor, ultimately his wife Ann proved correct in that her husband will not attempt to defy the odds.

Because Romney was so wishy-washy about his intentions for the past half-year or so, the chattering class has been especially chattery. Most people kept their bold predictions to themselves and, surprisingly, a lot of people got it right that Mitt won’t run.

But here are seven political pundits and politicians who apparently got it wrong — whether they outright declared Mitt will run or, even worse, asserted that he will definitely be the nominee. (All of this could change, however, if Romney continues his streak of unpredictability and decides to jump in at last second.)

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Rep. Jason Chaffetz

This Utah Republican told Chris Matthews on July 7 that “I happen to be in the camp that thinks he’s actually going to run and I think he will be the next President of the United States.” Like Romney, Chaffetz is a devout Mormon.




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Douglas Schoen

The Fox News contributor, Newsmax columnist, and former Clinton pollster told The Fox Report on August 3: “Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee in 2016.”




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Bill O’Reilly

In early October, the Fox News primetime star told a hopeful Ann Coulter: “I think Mitt Romney’s going to be the nominee, as it stands now. I really believe that he’s going to do it, because there’s nobody else getting any traction.”




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Josh Barro

The MSNBC contributor and New York Times correspondent’s self-contradictions on a Romney run sort of mirrors that of Mitt himself. In June, Barro threw “cold water” on Romney predictors:

But then in October, he was certain of the opposite:

And then today, after the news broke, he displayed a sense of humor about it all.


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James Carville

Two weeks ago, the famed Democratic analyst told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that “Mitt is going to get in and go to the right.” Pressed on whether he’s certain, Carville added: “Of course he’s going to get in and he’s going to run against [Jeb] Bush from the right.”




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Mark Halperin

As late as this morning, the Game Change author was sure Romney would throw his hat into the ring:




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The Daily Beast’s Sources

Oof. Upon learning that Romney would have an 11 a.m. press phone call, The Daily Beast wrote up an exclusive report claiming internal sources indicate Mitt will run. The rest is history:




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Of course, the weirdest part of all: It appears as though Dick Morris finally got something kind of correct.


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This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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