Book reveals Romney voted against 2012 run in family poll

In 2010, as the former Massachusetts governor weighed a bid, twelve members of his family, including Romney, took an informal poll on whether he should enter the race, Dan Balz reports in his forthcoming book Collision 2012.

{mosads}Ten of the family members, including Romney himself, voted against launching a campaign, according to The Huffington Post, which obtained a copy of the book. 

The book says Romney spent a great deal of time contemplating the decision, and expressed concerns that he would fare poorly in the GOP primaries as a centrist Republican and because of his Mormon faith.

“Mitt Romney had other reasons to think that not running might be the wiser choice. Winning as a moderate from Massachusetts who happened to be Mormon was always going to be difficult,” Balz writes.

“A lot of the thinking on the part of my brothers and dad was, ‘I’m not sure I can win a primary given those dynamics,’ ” Tagg Romney told Balz, according to the book. 

Balz wrote that Romney was also concerned about the “sheer physical and family toll another campaign would take.”

“He’s a private person and, push comes to shove, he wants to spend time with his family and enjoy his time with them,” Tagg Romney is quoted as saying.

Romney, though, eventually decided to run because he felt the rest of the GOP field was lacking. 

“I didn’t think that any one of them had a good chance of defeating the president and in some cases I thought that they lacked the experience and perspective necessary to do what was essential to get the country on track,” Romney said, according to Balz.