Since being elected to the Senate, Mitt Romney has managed the balancing act of being a high-profile Trump critic while also remaining within the mainstream of the Republican Party. A number of other prominent Trump critics have fallen into the trap of defining themselves by their opposition to Trump, which both weakens their influence in the Republican coalition and elevates Trump’s position.
For his part, Romney has not been sparing in his opposition to Trump. He even voted twice to convict him of impeachable acts. But Romney has also cultivated a position in the Senate as a dealmaker and policy innovator. He has less been an anti-Trump senator and more a Republican senator who happens to be a sharp critic of the former president. Maintaining ties with his fellow Republican senators has helped Romney take the lead on various policy reforms, perhaps most notably on subsidies for working families.
However, a refusal to endorse Mike Lee in the Utah Senate race might undermine Romney’s efforts to develop a reformist agenda within the GOP. Currently, many public polls show Lee with a slight edge over the Democratic Party’s preferred candidate, independent Evan McMullin. Romney so far has said that he will not take sides in the race between Lee and McMullin. This neutrality has generated grumbling behind the scenes among Republicans that has recently grown more public. Earlier this week, Tucker Carlson’s show featured a segment on the Utah race that included Mike Lee hoping for Romney’s endorsement.
Obviously, no senator is obliged to endorse any other senator. But not endorsing Lee has far more downside than upside as a matter of political strategy for Romney.
Lee is not a pariah candidate. In fact, he has garnered the support of every other Republican senator. If Romney continues to stay neutral and Lee loses to McMullin, Romney could be blamed by Republicans. A Lee win (without a Romney endorsement) might not cause the same amount of blowback, but Romney could still risk looking out of step with the rest of his caucus.
If Romney hopes to run for reelection in 2024, he will likely need all the support he can get from his fellow Republicans in order to win the GOP primary in Utah. He already faces some suspicion from grassroots activists in Utah. Turning his back on Mike Lee in 2022 could further undermine Romney’s position there. And a diminished standing with Republicans could also lessen Romney’s influence in the selection of a successor if he chooses to retire in 2024.
Romney’s bête noire, Donald Trump, may well see how Romney risks undercutting himself by not endorsing Lee. Trump’s recent “truth” attacking Romney for staying silent on the Utah Senate race is so vitriolic that it could almost seem calculated to keep Romney on the sidelines or even encourage him to endorse McMullin.
In a lot of ways, it makes sense that Mitt Romney would be an advocate in the Senate for a more populist, pro-worker agenda. After all, it was Romney in 2012 who ran on hawkishness on illegal immigration, new skepticism toward trade with the People’s Republic of China, and even some comments about the dangers of Too Big to Fail in the banking system.
However, choosing not to endorse his fellow Republican in the Utah Senate race could lessen the political capital available to Romney — and thus could hamper his efforts to promote a reformist vision within the GOP.