The political world has been abuzz for the past four days about Mitt Romney's announcement that he would not seek the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. The decision by the 2012 GOP nominee and former Massachusetts governor both was and wasn't a surprise, and it affects the prospects of some would-be rivals far more than others. Obviously, when someone who sits atop most national polls of Republican voters as their favorite for the GOP nomination decides not to run, there is an element of surprise. Yet many political elites, inside and outside the Republican Party, saw Romney's lead as built on sand, amounting to a combination of name recognition, familiarity, and general goodwill among most party members; a feeling that he was "a good man" was cited often. But even among people who love the guy, worked hard, contributed much, and raised a ton of money for him in 2008 and/or 2012, there seemed a sense that his time had come and gone, that had he been a strong candidate and mounted the kind of campaign he should have last time,

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