Quin, I think Romney probably made the right choice for himself. I’m sure he thinks (for a lot of good reasons) that he’d make a great president and that the American people made the wrong choice last time based on a misperception of him. So he must have felt a strong pull to run again, evident in how far he pushed this. But, despite the encouraging early polls, he could well have finished out of the money in the early states, which would have been a tough way to end his political career.

All that said, I share some of your regret about him not getting in. He and Jeb would have been fishing in the same establishment pool, and it might have created even greater appetite and greater opportunity for one of the fresh faces.