By Scotty Schenck, photo editor

As the saying goes,”the third time’s the charm,” and Mitt Romney recently announced his consideration for a third presidential bid. However, he will no longer be seeking the nomination from the Republican Party.

“After putting considerable thought into making another run for president, I’ve decided it’s best to let other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee,” Romney said in a call to supporters on Friday morning.

Sophomore political science major John Landergan said he agrees with Romney’s decision to step down.

“I think it’s kind of a smart choice,” he said. “Supporting another candidate would be a wiser choice than running again.”

In a Fox News poll released on Jan. 30, 2015, Romney led the poll among voting Republicans, at 21 percent and also among Tea Party voters, at 20 percent. However, among Democratic voters, former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton still has a 55 percent backing, compared to second-place Joe Biden with 17 percent.

Although Romney led the polls, his consideration for candidacy wasn’t without criticism from his own party. According to a CNN story, even some former supporters and campaign officials were expressing some opposition to Romney’s bid, saying he wasn’t the best option to take on who is expected to be the Democratic nominee, Clinton.

“I believe that one of our next generation of Republican leaders … may well emerge as being better able to defeat the Democrat nominee,” Romney said. “In fact, I expect and hope that to be the case.”

Photo courtesy Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons.