Host front page of the Washington Post has this story. Robert costa reporting along with Philip Rucker and karen tumulty. Mitt romney is moving quickly to assemble the National Political network, calling former aides and donors over the weekend and in a single of his seriousness of the launching a president ial campaign. Romneys message is that he almost certainly will make what would be his third bid for the white house. His aggressive outreach comes as representative paul ryan, romneys 2012 Vice President ial running mate and the newly installed chairman of the house ways and Means Committee announced monday that he would not seek the presidency in 2016. Romneys activity indicates that his exploration of interest friday to a group of donors in new york was more than the release of a trial balloon. Instead, it was the start of a deliberative effort by the 2012 nominee to carve out space for himself in an emerging 2016 field, also likely to include former Florida Governor jeb bush, new jersey governor chris christie, and wisconsin Governor Scott walker. Romney has worked the phones over the past few days, calling an array of key allies to discuss his potential 2016 campaign. Among them was paul ryan, who romney phoned over the weekend to inform him personally of his plans to probably run. Ryan was encouraging, according to people with knowledge of the calls. Other republicans with whom romney spoke recently include senators kelly ayotte of new hampshire, rob portman of ohio, former minnesota governor tim pawlenty, hewlettpackard chief meg whitman former massachusetts senator scott brown, former missouri senator jim talent, and representative jason chaffetz. Romney says he intends on running to the right of bush who is also working vigorously to what donors court donors and establishment figures for a 2016 bid. He is trying to assure them that he shares their views on immigration and tax policy and if he enters the race he will not forsake 20 orthodoxy. Party orthodoxy. Mitt romney telling supporters that he will run to the right of jeb bush. Yesterday on a fox news radio show, john gibson asked the senator rand paul, another potential contender, about romney throwing in his hat. [video clip] ilife governor romney, i like governor romney, i think he is a great businessman. But that is yesterdays news. He has tried twice. I dont really think that there is a third time now there. I think he did a lot of things right, but in the and you have got to have a bigger constituency. Youve got to attract new people to win and i think it is just time that probably the party is going to be looking for something fresh and new. Do you think that you can raise the kind of money it will take to run against Hillary Clinton . I think people will donate to someone who they think can win and winning means bringing people to the party. That means we need africanamericans in our party more africanamericans, we need more hispanics, more young people. If we say the same thing with the same of candidates, we will get the civil results same old results. Some of the ideas ive been talking about to attract new people to the party. I been talking about criminal justice, having a Foreign Policy that is reasonable. I have been talking about trying to be more inclusive as a party. So i think a lot of those things are helping to grow the party. Host senator rand paul republican of kentucky, potential 2016 contender yesterday reacting to the news on fox news radio show that mitt romney is seriously considering this and saying that he would run the right of jeb bush. Should mitt romney run . Bob in duluth, minnesota democrat. What do you think . Caller well, im probably going to vote democrat can but if i had to choose between the two, i would take mitt romney, because the last bush the had we had did a lot of damage. The economy completely went south under him. And there is just too many things that went wrong in the Bush Administration to want another bush. And i dont think i think Elizabeth Warren would make a better candidate than Hillary Clinton, because of her stand on money issues. Host you think Elizabeth Warren could raise enough money to beat mitt romney in a hypothetical matchup . Caller well, i dont know that, but i know that she would make a better president because she would be better on money issues. Host all right, lets go to james in new mexico, a republican. James, what do you think . Caller i dont think mitt romney should run. He lost already, and he is more of a progressive. This is a problem with the Republican Party, they are allowing more progressives like mitt romney. What they need to be focusing on our constitutional conservatives like rand paul. Host ok, you would vote for rand paul . Caller and if mitt romney does get the nomination, i will vote third party, libertarian or Something Like that. Host ted cruz also reacting to the news about mitt romney. He was speaking to the Heritage Foundations policy in washington. There are some who believe that the Republican Party should run to the mushy middle. Recent history is shown us that is not a path to success. It does not work. I very much agree with president Ronald Reagan that the way we win is by painting with bold colors, not pale pastels, and that is a debate republicans are going to have over the next two years. It is certainly a debate i intend to participate in vigorously. Cruz also called on the republican drivers not to back down on the agenda and laid out a 10point plan for the country that included renewed efforts at repealing obamacare and abolishing the irs in a keynote address at the Heritage Foundation on monday afternoon. We were showing that to you before washington journal. If you missed it and want to watch his whole speech, go to our website, cspan. Org. Danny, democratic caller. Go ahead. Caller im hoping that mitt runs good i would love to pound him into the dirt for third time. He seems to think he has a divine right. He and his wife couldnt believe they lost. They are such wonderful, marvelous people. He worked with bank capital, destroying companies, destroying jobs. He is the epitome of everything wrong with our government, being owned by wall street. Fight bush and fight cruz and fight everybody, that would be just great. Host before you go, who would you like to see as the democrat mashup against him matchup against him . Caller Elizabeth Warren only. Hillary clinton, her husband betrayed us with nafta. He is a corporate whore, she is a corporate whore. We dont need these people. Host jim in delaware republican. Your thoughts . Caller i dont mind if romney runs. He will dilute bush and they will both fall. I would like to see someone like mike pence for scott walker run for president. Romney is going to run and expect the same results. Hopefully he and bush will destroy each other and we get a real constitutional conservative in their. Host politico has the story the selling of mitt 3. 0. Romney is promising hell be different this time. Romney supporters mounted to political about the failed gop nominees performance. we had no message, and we give it to the worst communicator in the world. two years later, romney is mulling another campaign to romneys making it clear that he is likely to run, putting his timeframe for a decision at weeks, not months. He wants to make a tackling poverty the issue a key issue for his 2012 Vice President ial nominee, paul ryan a pillar of his campaign. He hopes to show voters a version of himself they didnt get to see last time. There is even an Netflix Documentary he can point to full. Conversations reveal that he promises a different path forward without providing specifics as far as mechanics and his own gafferidden performance. Mark is a republican in michigan. Caller i think you should run because he will make a great president. Obama has failed miserably, in my fearful some he has had it almost as much debt is all the prior president s combined. He is forcing us to pay a penalty for purchasing health care. I think that is unfair. I think mitt romney definitely will be a better president. Host what about mitt romney compared to the other gop contenders . Caller well, if rand paul decides to run to be honest with you i might go with rand paul because i think he will restore our liberties. For instance, the Fourth Amendment is quite an issue right now. He will restore our rights. Host randy in shreveport louisiana. Independent caller. What do you think of mitt romney running in my 16 in 2016 . Caller he is a bush b ildeberger. We dont need a monarchy with the bushes. As far as the democrats go, my god, i couldnt think of anybody there. Who are to be running is dr. Ben carson. He is the man. If the black people want a black president , he is the man to be. I can see rand paul or ted cruz jumping in theirre as Vice President. Mitt romney, easel companies write down the river and he cost a lot he sold copies right on the river and he caused a lot of jobs. I cant remember the term for when he takes over a corporation, but anyway, he caused a lot of people a lot of jobs and he is worthless, far as im concerned. Host michael, florida, republican. Hi, michael. Caller how are you this morning . Host doing well. What do you think of mitt romney thrown his hat in the ring . Should he . Caller no, i dont think so. Sadly, i feel bad for mr. Romney if you could hear all these comes, because last time he could have won if he had not listened to some very wrong direction from his associates. And sadly for us, we have this most incredible disaster in the white house today that could possibly have happened. Frankly, i would like to see this gentleman from wisconsin. Host ok. Scott walker . Caller yeah. I think the job he has done in that state is way beyond commendable. He has done everything the right way, from the standpoint of business, of dealing with unions , of trying to do something about unemployment. I think scott walker is the guy i would love to see in the white house. Host what about your own senator, marco rubio . Caller i like marco. But he has disappointed me on a number of occasions where he indicated he would follow a particular course and then seemed to change the way the winds seem to change. I am concerned about his overall sincerity. Host as you know, senator marco rubio doing a book tour. Fostering upward mobility is the focus of this new book restoring opportunity for everyone. It could be the basis of a president ial campaign. Rubio says hell jump in the 2016 race if no one else in the republican field puts forward an economic agenda like his, even if it means running against his onetime mentor, former Florida Governor jeb bush. He told cbs that he could put together a wellfinanced campaign if he decides to throw his hat into the ring. The caller mentioned scott walker and that he likes his stance against the unions. The Journal Editorial Board is taking should with what scott walker is now saying about unions. At the second inauguration last week mr. Walker told voters that prosperity comes from empowering people to control their own lives through the dignity born from work. In the badger state, he added we understand people create jobs, not the government. hes right, which makes it that much stranger to watch mr. Walker dodging the right to challenge. His reluctance on right to work may reflect the desire not to take on one more wrong with big labor as he contemplates a president ial run. If mr. Walker has been bigger Economic Reforms on his mind, he should make them known and why there more important than the right to work. He became a national gop figure because he was willing to spend his Political Capital on fiscal and political reforms with the effort. If he misses that chance in his second term he may find that his president ial campaign becomes merely a distraction. We are about whether mitt romney should run in 2016. We will get your thoughts in just a minute. But first, joining us on the phone is Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post, political reporter, talking about president Obama Meeting at the white house. When is this meeting taking place . What is on the agenda . Guest the meeting is taking place later this morning and it is a chance for him to sit down with the new congressional leadership because republicans now control both houses of congress the house and the senate. And really, it is a chance to talk about their agenda. There are a lot of differences right now between what the president wants to do and what republican congressional leaders want to do. They are working on a bill that they want to pass in the senate to approve construction of the keystone xl pipeline. The president has said he opposes that. The house is already passed a similar bill. But we will probably see is the president reiterate to republican congressional leaders that he will veto this legislation and you will see Republican Leaders say that is a bad idea, this is a jobs bill. Right now they disagree more than every other big issues. Host will they discuss Homeland Security funding in light of what happened in paris . Guest i definitely expect that they would. The house is trying to pass a bill the funding will run out at the end of the month. It would run out for dhs specifically. They want to set up a fight on immigration against obama. But there are some republicans want that we shouldnt play politics with this. Host what will the president do if that is what they sent him . Guest the bill that they are talking about right now, he absolutely wooden sign that she absolutely wooden to sign. He absolutely wooden sign. Obama is not going to sign a bill that undoes his policy. It is not even clear at this point if the senate, if there are more moderate members and some moderate republicans you might oppose this bill and take it up from the perspective of House Republicans it this first offer. Host where is there compromise between the two sides . What legislative items that they discuss today that they might be working toward an agreement on the road . Guest in the long run both sides one agreement on fiscal issues. They want to work on things like tax reform. If you look at what the houses passed so far, both bills that obama said he would veto. In the immediate term there is not that much room for agreement. Maybe in the long term there is that right now what were seeing is the are barely a week into the new congress and a lot of disagreements have already come to the forefront. Host after the first meeting with the new republican majority , republicans and democrats will at the end of this week had for their annual retreats. What is the significance of these gatherings . Guest i think the significance, at least this for, as there is a chance for republicans and democrats to work out differences that have come up in their caucuses. We have seen republicans divided on different issues, how to fight the Health Care Law and so forth. The democrats have divisions in their ranks. You have the liberal, more progressive members who take on wall street and press tougher regulations. On the other side you want you have moderate members who say hold on, that is a bad idea policy wise. Democrats are talking about that, and republicans, too. They have differences in how big to go with legislation. It is a chance to sit down and regroup and come up with a legislative agenda that everybody in the conference can rally around. They may not get broad agreement so it is just a chance to sit down here and here rankandfile members and their concerns. Host our republican our reporters allowed to go and cover these gatherings . There are separate retreats democrats going to baltimore republicans going to hershey pennsylvania. Our reporters like to come along and cover this . Guest absolutely. Most of the meetings happened behind closed doors but lawmakers come out of the meetings and talk about what were the big issues and there are sometimes press briefings that republican and Democratic Leaders will do. From their perspective it is a lot of standing around and waning and waiting, who spoke up, who got angry, who didnt figuring out what the pickings are from the meetings. Host Sean Sullivan, political reporter with the Washington Post, thank you. Guest thanks very much. Host back to your thoughts on mitt romney potentially running in 2016, calling former donors and supporters. Telling folks that he is most certainly looking like he will take a third shot at the white house. We want to get your thoughts on that this morning. Sean in sunnyvale, california, independent trade go ahead. Caller thank you for taking my call. I dont think mitt romney should run. Like that one guy said earlier in the show, he has already ran to her three times and got his face slammed into the ground two or three times and got his face slammed into the ground. I want to talk about what that guy Sean Sullivan said host can i ask you come if there is a hypothetical matchup between mitt romney and, lets say, Hillary Clinton, who would you vote for as an independent . Caller i would have to go with hillary, but honestly, i dont think that america is even going to vote for a female president could i honestly just believe that. I think it is bs, but i just dont see it that way i just see it that way. They wont. Host ok. Ernie in los angeles. Caller hello. Host hello. Caller there is just a delay. I dont think mitt romney should run. I was just listening to ted cruz and he seems refreshing to me. Host ok, in what way . Caller just what he was talking about, about the tax, bossing the irs. It just seeme