It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town

Two-time presidential loser Mitt Romney is the Great Mentioner’s main squeeze right now, a regular Page One Pin-up Boy.

Start with this front-page story in Saturday’s Boston Globe (mercifully below the fold).

Money quote:

 “Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no,” Romney told The New York Times.

But . . . “in recent weeks, a strange thing has happened: Some supporters and donors, pollsters and pundits are starting to suggest — without irony — that the former Massachusetts governor run for president in 2016.”

Romney, not surprisingly, says all the right things in pooh-poohing the possibility he could go for the hat trick, while adding a few Mitticisms along the way that are as awkward as he is.

As the redoubtable Dan Kennedy noted on Facebook:

Mitt Romney on presidential losers: “Mike Dukakis, you know, he can’t get a job mowing lawns. We just brutalize whoever loses.” (http://b.globe.com/1fodGJN) Haw haw haw! Michael Dukakis has been an important part of the Northeastern community for many years. But why let the facts get in the way of a bad joke?

Why indeed.

Crosstown, Romney graces the front page of today’s Boston Herald.

The take here is different from the Globe’s, in that the Herald piece operates under the assumption Romney is not a potential 2016 contender.

Mitt Romney — the GOP’s uptight 2012 presidential nominee known for his family-man image and awkward sound bites — just might turn into the Republican Party’s top 
attack dog in 2016.

“He will be the one who carries the fight and makes the arguments and shows the contrasts,” said Tom Rath, a New Hampshire GOP consultant who helped Romney’s 2012 bid. “He fills the void while we are waiting to select a nominee, and he can be a very effective and compelling spokesperson who doesn’t have to be anything but be himself.”

Of course, being himself is what made him a two-time loser. But why get technical about it.