Iowa Republicans not seeing much of Mitt Romney lately

DES MOINES, Iowa — If Mitt Romney is serious about another presidential bid, you wouldn’t know it from his presence in Iowa.

Romney has gathered his national campaign team for meetings, quietly reached out to top donors and started calling lawmakers. But there’s little action from him in the Hawkeye State, which kicks off the presidential primary schedule.

{mosads}The 2012 Republican nominee skipped Iowa’s first big candidate event over the weekend and has made little to no outreach in a state whose caucuses he lost twice, say local Republicans. Romney’s inaction contrasts sharply with his potential foes, many of who are ramping up in the state.

“Gov. Romney hasn’t called me yet. And I’m waiting — literally every night I sit besides the phone,” Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said with a laugh to reporters in Des Moines Friday night. He then predicted all the major candidates would compete in Iowa. “The only disappointment that I’d have is if any candidate believes they can get the Republican nomination and not spend time in this state.”

Some previous Romney backers agree.

“I’ve had one contact from Boston — not from him, I would add. I don’t pick up that a lot of calls have been made to date,” said David Oman, one of Romney’s 2012 campaign co-chairmen and a former state party chairman.

Oman said he was “very comfortable” waiting a bit for Romney to make a decision, but that he’d had conversations with other campaigns as well — and is looking to back a candidate who plans to play hard in the caucuses.

“I’d like to know what Gov. Romney is thinking about and specifically thoughts and plans for what will unfold in Iowa,” he said.

And while some previous supporters have fielded calls from Romney’s staff, he hasn’t personally reached out to many.

The former Massachusetts governor worked Iowa hard in 2008, spending months and millions of dollars there only to finish second to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R).

In 2012, after more than a year of playing wait and see, Romney came on hard in the last month of the caucuses, only to fall a handful of votes short of a win against former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) that could have helped him quickly sew up the nomination. Instead, he slogged through a long primary season that hurt his chances against President Obama.

Romney advisers say it’s “to be determined” whether he plays in Iowa. But they point out that he’s well-known in the state and argue he has plenty of time to decide what to do.

“He’s talked with several people in Iowa,” said one source close to Romney. “It’s now two-and-a-half weeks since he decided to seriously look at this … and unlike the others, he doesn’t have to learn the state. He knows it and knows it well.”

Even if Romney runs, he might be best served to skip the state. Iowa’s caucusgoers tend to be older and more conservative, especially on social issues, than GOP primary voters elsewhere.

The former nominee was used as a punching bag over the weekend by speakers at a gathering of more than 1,200 activists in Des Moines organized by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Citizens United.

“It can’t be Mitt. … He choked. Something happened,” business mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump declared to snickers from the audience during his speech. “Sort of like a deal-maker who can’t close the deal.”

The event’s conservative audience only represents a slice of caucus voters, however. Romney has even led in some recent Iowa GOP polls, though that’s likely due to his high name identification in a very crowded field. And he’s campaigned in the state as recently as last year, for now-Sen. Joni Ernst (R).

Other establishment-leaning Republicans are already working the state hard.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) spoke on Saturday to generally positive reviews and has already locked down a top Iowa consultant, Jeff Boeyink. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) has been calling party leaders and politicians throughout Iowa, and held fundraisers for some local candidates, including Gov. Terry Branstad (R) last year.

While others set up campaign structures, it’s unclear whether Romney will reassemble his previous team.

His top Iowa adviser from 2008 and 2012, David Kochel, declined to comment when asked whether he was planning to help Romney or what contact he’d had with Romney’s national team. Kochel instead pointed The Hill to a recent statement saying he has “great affection and respect” for Romney and looks forward “to hearing more from him as he considers his future.”

Freshman Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) said Romney is one of the few candidates he hasn’t heard from.

“I can’t believe Mitt Romney’s going to run. I can’t believe it. Jeb Bush I believe, I talked to him for a half-hour on the phone,” he said Saturday. “A fresh face is what people are looking for. … That’s why with Mitt Romney — I’m kind of taken aback by it; I can’t believe it’s for real.”

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