Summary the 2012 Republican nominee and former Massachusetts governor will disclose his plans to allies
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Two-time Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will host a conference call with supporters Friday to provide an update about a possible third White House run, US media reported.
Three weeks after he surprisingly said he was considering throwing his hat in the ring for next year s presidential campaign, the 2012 Republican nominee and former Massachusetts governor will disclose his plans to allies, a source close to Romney told MSNBC.
Some Romney supporters reportedly received an email asking them to join the call.
News of the 11:00 am (1600 GMT) call has heightened speculation about Romney s plans for 2016, after he gave two speeches in the last two weeks in which he acknowledged he is considering taking another crack at the White House.
"I m thinking about how I could help the country," Romney told students at Mississippi State University on Wednesday, taking jabs at former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, the prospective Democratic frontrunner for 2016, and President Barack Obama.
Romney told the Republican National Committee earlier this month that the party needs to make income inequality a central plank in the presidential race, and he slammed "liberal policies" like those of Obama as good for campaign soundbites but terrible for alleviating poverty.
In Mississippi, he returned to the inequality theme, stressing "the reason I m Republican is because I want to help the poor, the middle class."
Tit-for-tat with Obama
Romney, 67, amassed a huge fortune as a venture capitalist, and Obama s 2012 campaign successfully painted Romney as an out-of-touch millionaire.
He joked about his own financial comfort Wednesday, saying money would not be a motivator for a presidential run.
"I m not even thinking about getting rich from the speaking fees after I leave office," he quipped. "As you no doubt heard, I m already rich."
Romney s campaign suffered in 2012 when a tape surfaced showing him saying "47 percent" of Americans would never vote for him because they were dependent on government benefits.
The president, eager to have a Democratic successor carry on his policies, fired a shot across Romney s bow late Thursday in an address to Democratic lawmakers.
"We ve got a former presidential candidate on the other side who suddenly is just deeply concerned about poverty," Obama mocked, to laughter from his partisan audience.
"That s great!, Let s do something about it!"
Romney immediately fired back on Twitter: "Mr. Obama, wonder why my concern about poverty? The record number of poor in your term, and your record of failure to remedy."
The White House touts how Obama policies have brought unemployment down to 5.6 percent, with the creation of millions of new jobs following the 2007-2008 crisis.
Republicans counter that wages have remained stagnant for years, and that millions of Americans unable to find work have stopped looking.
Should Romney run, he would join a crowded Republican field. At least a dozen Republicans are likely to announce their intentions to run.
One of them, Senator Rand Paul, told a retreat hosted by the billionaire Koch brothers that he did not want to see Romney run again because he did not represent the 21st century face of the party.
"I m kind of with Ann Romney on this one: No, no, no, no, never," Paul said of another Romney run, citing the hesitation of Romney s wife.
