Rep. Paul Ryan's lavish praise of Mitt Romney as a potential 2016 presidential candidate should not be taken seriously, according to Daniel Halper, online editor of The Weekly Standard.
"I assume it’s just Ryan trying to be gracious to Mitt Romney. Look, it was a huge boon for Paul Ryan to be picked as the vice presidential candidate in the last go-round," Halper said Thursday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
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"He’s trying to be gracious. I wouldn’t take it too seriously. I wouldn’t look at it as a sign that Mitt Romney blessed those remarks or a sign that Mitt Romney is going to run."
Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday: "Sign me up for the Mitt mania."
He said he'd happily support the former Massachusetts governor for a third try at the White House, adding, "I’d drive his bus if he asked me to."
But Halper isn't sure that Romney, who was badly beaten by President Barack Obama in 2012, could get the support of his party in the next race for the White House.
"A lot of conservatives want a lot of fresh faces," Halper said. "I don’t think that Mitt Romney would be a fresh face as his third go-round in presidential campaign … I can’t imagine Romney running again."
Romney has strongly insisted he has no interest in another presidential bid.
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