What Kind of Senator Would Mitt Romney Be ? 
Mitt Romney
Ever since early 2016 , when the Republican Party began to fussily resettle itself behind Donald Trump , Mitt Romney has been an intermittent oppositional figure , distinct from his party in both point of view and style . 
The conservative movement has grown smirking , clannish , quarrelsome ; Romney has been formal , chiding , and pained . 
After Trump won the election , that November , Romney met with Trump in the hope of securing for himself the position of Secretary of State . 
Yet this summer , after a white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville turned deadly , Romney professed deeper anxieties . 
For half a century , Romney and his family have existed close to the center of the Republican Party . 
Now -- just six years removed from being his party 's Presidential nominee , but with no distinct Romneyist camp in Washington and no obvious constituency to summon -- it is n't obvious that Romney fits in at all . 
Last week , the Utah senator Orrin Hatch announced that he would be retiring at the end of his term this year , and immediately Romney 's allies suggested that he would run for the seat ; the common wisdom was that his election would be all but assured . 
-LRB- Romney , a man of many residences , built his political career in Massachusetts , but he went to college in Utah , and helped to save the Salt Lake City Olympics from ruin in 2002 ; he is the most recognizable Mormon in the world , and he would be running in a state whose Republican Party is defined by its relationship to the L.D.S. Church . -RRB- 
Romney 's candidacy is still unannounced , and its most important position -- what line the candidate takes on the President -- is not yet obvious . 
"This thing is still developing ," one of Romney 's longtime advisers told me last week . 
But already the most romantic vision of Romney -- that he might arrive in Washington as the de-facto leader of an anti-Trump faction -- seems unlikely . 
"I 've heard some relatively simplistic assessments that he is going to be the voice of the Never Trump movement ," a senior adviser to Romney 's Presidential campaign said last week . 
Romney is a very pragmatic politician , too . 
Romney himself has made no sign of wanting to be part of such a faction , even if it existed . 
One of his advisers reminded me last week that Romney took the idea of being Trump 's Secretary of State seriously , and believed that Trump 's interest in him was entirely sincere . 
And , a month after his appalled reaction to Charlottesville , Romney tweeted praise for Trump 's speech before the U.N. General Assembly . 
Romney 's potential for tragedy and heroism both spring from the same source : the depth of his feeling for a version of America that may exist only in his mind , a place where the trees in Michigan are exactly the right height . 
Romney 's return to Utah has some elements of a homecoming ; it is also , more simply , a move to accommodating political terrain . 
Utah is a conservative state whose politics are moving toward Romney , rather than away . 
Modern Utah , the place of the salvaged Salt Lake Olympics , exists in the Romney image .
Ever since early 2016 , when the Republican Party began to fussily resettle itself behind Donald Trump , [TGT] has been an intermittent oppositional figure , distinct from [TGT] party in both point of view and style . 
The conservative movement has grown smirking , clannish , quarrelsome ; [TGT] has been formal , chiding , and pained . 
After Trump won the election , that November , [TGT] met with Trump in the hope of securing for [TGT] the position of Secretary of State . 
Yet this summer , after a white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville turned deadly , [TGT] professed deeper anxieties . 
For half a century , [TGT] and [TGT] family have existed close to the center of the Republican Party . 
Now -- just six years removed from being [TGT] party 's Presidential nominee , but with no distinct Romneyist camp in Washington and no obvious constituency to summon -- it is n't obvious that [TGT] fits in at all . 
Last week , the Utah senator Orrin Hatch announced that he would be retiring at the end of his term this year , and immediately [TGT] 's allies suggested that [TGT] would run for the seat ; the common wisdom was that [TGT] election would be all but assured . 
-LRB- Romney , a man of many residences , built his political career in Massachusetts , but he went to college in Utah , and helped to save the Salt Lake City Olympics from ruin in 2002 ; he is the most recognizable Mormon in the world , and he would be running in a state whose Republican Party is defined by its relationship to the L.D.S. Church . -RRB- 
[TGT] 's candidacy is still unannounced , and its most important position -- what line the candidate takes on the President -- is not yet obvious . 
"This thing is still developing ," one of [TGT] 's longtime advisers told me last week . 
But already the most romantic vision of [TGT] -- that [TGT] might arrive in Washington as the de-facto leader of an anti-Trump faction -- seems unlikely . 
"I 've heard some relatively simplistic assessments that [TGT] is going to be the voice of the Never Trump movement ," a senior adviser to [TGT] 's Presidential campaign said last week . 
[TGT] is a very pragmatic politician , too . 
[TGT] himself has made no sign of wanting to be part of such a faction , even if it existed . 
One of [TGT] advisers reminded me last week that [TGT] took the idea of being Trump 's Secretary of State seriously , and believed that Trump 's interest in [TGT] was entirely sincere . 
And , a month after [TGT] appalled reaction to Charlottesville , [TGT] tweeted praise for Trump 's speech before the U.N. General Assembly . 
[TGT] 's potential for tragedy and heroism both spring from the same source : the depth of [TGT] feeling for a version of America that may exist only in [TGT] mind , a place where the trees in Michigan are exactly the right height . 
[TGT] 's return to Utah has some elements of a homecoming ; it is also , more simply , a move to accommodating political terrain . 
Utah is a conservative state whose politics are moving toward [TGT] , rather than away . 
Modern Utah , the place of the salvaged Salt Lake Olympics , exists in the [TGT] image .