Prediction: Romney Will Challenge Trump

The newly elected senator from Utah, Mitt Romney, wasted no time. Even before he was officially sworn into office, he blasted President Donald Trump in a Washington Post op-ed, writing that the Republican president's actions of the past two years — particularly, of the last month — have not "risen to the mantle of the office."

If Trump has not risen to the mantle, Romney has certainly risen to the bait and is going to run against Trump for the GOP nomination for president in 2020.

Why not? Romney ran in 2004 and 2008. If he runs in 2020, he, Joe Biden, Harold Stassen, William Jennings Bryan and Henry Clay will share the honor of being three-time losers.

Romney lives with the sole goal of becoming president and will not let go of what he considers his destiny: to succeed where his father failed. Move over, retiring Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake and exiting Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker; Romney is running!

Curiously, in his critical op-ed, Romney takes pains to endorse the heart of Trump's actions as president. He supports the tax cut — particularly, the corporate reduction. He backs the trade war with China. He supports the president on immigration. But he cautions that "policies and appointments are only a part of a presidency. With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable."

Romney, for the record, denies that he is considering a run at Trump, but don't believe it. This man has been running for president ever since he emerged from the womb, and he won't stop now.

It was a sign of his desperation for a national stage that this former governor of Massachusetts packed up his carpetbag and moved to Utah to run for Senate. Knowing he could count on his core support there, he claimed the Senate seat as his own.

Can Romney win?

No. It is significant amid all the attacks on Trump and the pasting he has received in the media, the president's job approval is unchanged. For the past year or more, he has averaged 46-49 percent approval in the Rasmussen Reports polling and 42-44 percent in the RealClearPolitics average of the seven most recent polls. His numbers are so constant that they can almost be used to measure the accuracy of a sample for national polling.

Trump's base will not abandon him but will vote massively to reject a challenge from Romney.

Now, we have the delightful spectacle of the pot calling the kettle black. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, long a flashpoint for dissent from Republican policies, tweeted: "Like other Big Government Republicans who never liked Reagan, Mitt Romney wants to signal how virtuous he is in comparison to the President. Well, I'm most concerned and pleased with the actual conservative reform agenda." He attacked Romney's divisiveness and said it would make it harder for Republicans to get elected.

But what Romney can do is give the liberal media plenty of ammo to use in deriding Trump. He gives the establishment the ability to knock the president while appearing to be above party.

Were he to run, it would give Trump the clear ability to distinguish himself from the establishment of his party and appeal to his blue-collar base. Romney lost because he was the image of a "vulture capitalist," and it was in reaction to this image that Trump crafted his insurgency.

Now, Romney's return makes it easier for Donald to be Donald and win while doing it.

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Dick Morris, who served as adviser to former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and former President Clinton, is the author of 16 books, including his latest, Screwed and Here Come the Black Helicopters.