Romney Eyeing 2016? Here’s the Thing About Crowds…

I told you that as soon as Mitt Romney even hinted he just might enter the presidential race, he'd lose all that good will. Even I didn’t think it would happen so fast.

Now, there’s an entrepreneur who says the former Republican presidential nominee is a nerd. Then, there’s another Republican who said: "been there, done that."

The folks at the left-leaning news channel are already having a field day with the increasingly crowded Republican field.

Me? Maybe because I'm half-Italian and know how routine heavy "candidate" turnout is back in Italy, I have no problem with a big bunch vying for the big brass ring.

What's that they say about the lottery? You gotta be in it to win it.

I'm sure back in 1860, there were plenty of folks who thought Abraham Lincoln's late entry into the contest made a confusing crowd of insiders all the more confusing. “Let the pros sort this out,” they lamented, through convention balloting that eventually settled on the lanky Illinois orator.

Ditto a century later, when rising Democratic star and Senator John Kennedy was thought too young and inexperienced to threaten established party stars such as Hubert Humphrey and Lyndon Johnson.

And regardless, all were sure losers to the incumbent vice president Richard Nixon, especially considering the popularity of his boss, Dwight Eisenhower, and the near idyllic 1950s.

My only point mentioning these examples is that they upset the consensus, which at the time ruled out the guy who eventually won out, in a crowd, despite a crowd, over that crowd.

So I say, bring 'em on. All of 'em on. And may the best man or woman win. But don't let experts decide that. Let us decide that.

Because if I've learned anything about politicos who dismiss crowded fields, it's that they fail to see the folks who rise from those crowded fields. Maybe they're just distracted.

Because they never saw Lincoln coming, or JFK coming, or Ronald Reagan coming, or Bill Clinton coming. All rose from supposed political dwarfs, who supposedly didn't have a chance in hell.

Until they did. Because that's the thing about crowds. They have a way of whittling down. But no damage was done, before they did.