The last two Republican candidates for president have been among the weakest GOP candidates in 50 years.

Barack Obama presented Mitt Romney with a gift in 2012: A struggling economy, sluggish growth, a paucity of jobs, and a health care law that was extremely unpopular.

In what should have been a landslide rejection of Obama's policies, Romney flubbed it big time and allowed his opponent to define him - and Republicans - in the most unflattering way imaginable.

You would have hoped that Romney would have retired from the public arena and kept a low profile as other losers have done in the past. Instead, the last few months have seen the former presidential candidate raising his public profile considerably, while apparently courting big money donors which is generating speculation he may make another run in 2016.

And now, a new poll out of Iowa may put some fire in his belly.

Politico:

According to a USA Today/Suffolk University poll released Wednesday, 35 percent of likely GOP caucus voters would vote for the 2012 GOP nominee in 2016. When Romney’s name was added to the pool, no other candidate received double-digit votes.

The survey comes as rumors have begun to swirl about a potential Romney bid for president in 2016. After months of insisting that he will not run again, the former Massachusetts governor on Tuesday acknowledged that “circumstances can change.”

“Circumstances can change, but I’m just not going to let my head go there,” he said during an interview on the “The Hugh Hewitt Show” radio program.

In Wednesday’s survey of 170 likely caucus voters, 9 percent said they would vote for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, putting him in a distant second to Romney. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum both came in third at 6 percent, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul tied for fifth with 5 percent.

Ten percent of likely voters said they were undecided.

In a field survey that did not include Romney, Huckabee scored 13 percent of the vote and Christie 10 percent, with 17 percent of voters saying they were undecided.

A June survey reported that Romney also had a double-digit lead over all listed potential Republican presidential contenders in New Hampshire, suggesting he has strong support in each of the first two presidential nominating contests.

What is this Republican death wish? Nothing has changed in 4 years to make Romney a better candidate. Did he give all his money away so that the Democrats can't paint him as a Daddy Warbucks who hates the poor and wants to enslave women? Has his speaking ability improved dramatically so that people won't fall asleep listening to him? Has he become more animated, more lifelike, instead of a wooden Ken doll?

Most importantly, does he still believe in the same philosophy that voters rejected in 2012?

The Republican mega donors who are whispering in Romney's ear that he can do it can afford to lose a billion dollars like they did in 2012. But the question is, can the country afford another Democrat as president? Rich people who play at politics aren't affected when they make lousy decisions. It's the rest of us who have to live with the result of their hubris and stupidity.

Nominating Mitt Romney again would be a disaster - end of story.