The 2016 presidential election is almost two years in the future, and it’s a dispiriting sign for Republicans that many are taking another look at Mitt Romney, a two-time loser, because the rest of the early GOP field seems less than impressive.

    Romney among them.

    “I came away from a conversation with him with the impression he was running,” said one prominent Wall Street executive. “And he did not think anyone in the field right now was particularly strong.”

    Not even Jeb Bush, who could be described as the early front-runner. Romney thinks Bush, the former Florida governor, would run into problems because of his business dealings, his work with the investment banks Lehman Brothers and Barclays, and his private equity investments, including offshore tax havens and Chinese investors.

    If the presidential election were confined to Idaho, Romney would win based on his electoral strength in 2012 in the Gem State. Especially as long as Frank VanderSloot’s money and that of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson held out.

    There are plenty of people who think Romney would be foolish to undertake another grueling campaign. Especially since he said after his 2012 defeat by Barack Obama that he would never run again. But that was then, and 2016 is the future.