Will Romney Soon Be at the Unemployment Office?

Mitt Romney is trying to overcome the electoral defeat that he didn’t see coming any more than his party did. The lingering image from that evening is of Karl Rove refusing to believe the Ohio election results when they were announced on Fox News — the result of his candidate’s defeat for which he had poured $300 million down the drain. Barack Obama’s re-election was only a month ago, yet it seems like a year has gone by. Romney is barely a memory. In any event, his party is trying to forget him. And the Mormon is asking himself which direction to take.

For the first time in his life, he who saw himself in the White House is wondering what will become of him. Since he stopped fighting for his campaign, Romney has been at his 1,100-square-meter home in La Jolla, close to San Diego, to be closer to some of his sons. He who proclaimed loud and clear that he drove Cadillacs to support the American auto industry has been spotted at a San Diego service station filling up his brand new Audi Q7, a car that is made in Slovakia.

Aside from his brief speech on the night of his defeat, Romney has not made a single public statement. When The Washington Post recently asked him for an interview, he declined. After having spent six years on the campaign trail, Romney has fallen silent. But what’s next?

Following Romney’s remarks to his financial supporters attributing Obama’s victory to the gifts he supposedly made to different electoral groups — women, Hispanics, blacks, etc. — the Republican Party has taken another step back from him. It is unlikely that he will play a role in the Republican Party. He conjures up too many bad memories.

Romney, who kept a diary during his entire election campaign, could get a contract with a publishing house and publish within the next few months. Friends questioned by The Washington Post confirm that he could be called upon to perform important roles in the Mormon Church.

Part of his time during these past weeks has been devoted to calling the multimillionaires who financially supported him in order to thank them. He also helped some of his aides and advisers to find work again.

For now, the retired politician has no plans. He is enjoying life.