This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Failed presidential candidates always want to stay relevant.
For Al Gore, it was producing an alarm-sounding documentary on climate change. For John McCain it was continuing to needle Democrats, and Republicans, in the Senate. John Kerry burnished his resume perfectly to nab the secretary of state gig.
And for Mitt Romney, it's trying to play the role of kingmaker.
As he has for several years since his 2012 loss to President Barack Obama, Romney invited a host of White House wannabes to Park City this weekend to hob-nob with potential donors and policy wonks in a gathering called the E2 Summit, or the "Experts and Enthusiasts" summit.
While Jeb Bush and Sen. Ted Cruz skipped the confab, Sens. Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina were on hand. That's not a bad draw for the guy who didn't win.
It's also not a bad idea for those candidates, or potential candidates, to meet some of Romney's big-money donors and kick around a few ideas on campaigning so Republicans don't lose a third presidential general election in a row.
Romney, who didn't want to coast into obscurity, had talked about a third run at the White House only to pull back a few weeks later and say he would sit it out. Or at least that his name wouldn't be on any more ballots. That doesn't mean he isn't going to try and coax the GOP contenders to his world view or help prod the field to tackle pet issues.
Romney pulled in $283 million for just his campaign in 2012, and if you add in the money raised that cycle by the Republican Party and Romney's super PAC, Restore Our Future, the total nearly hits $1 billion. If your goal is to win the White House, you're going to need to make friends with people who can deliver that kind of cash.
As you might expect, Romney relishes the idea that he still plays an important role in the Republican Party. Until the GOP nominates its next standard-bearer, Romney is as close to a national leader as the party has.
"It sure is fun being part of this without being a candidate," Romney joked Friday morning, as reported by my colleague Robert Gehrke.
Romney has a loyal following: folks who fought shoulder-to-shoulder with him in 2008 and 2012 or swallowed the Kool-Aid and were sure he had the race in the bag. Some have signed up with candidates already but others are waiting, perhaps to see which direction Romney may lean.
Spencer Zwick, Romney's 2012 finance director (who is so tight with the family that he's often jokingly referred to as Romney's sixth son) told reporters that he'd still like to see Romney run in 2016, according to The Washington Post's Bob Costa.
That's not going to happen. But Romney will have influence over the race and even if he doesn't get to ultimately play kingmaker, he'd still like to say that he tried.
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Burr has reported for more than a decade from Washington, D.C., for The Salt Lake Tribune. He can be reached at tburr@sltrib.com or via Twitter @thomaswburr.