“Romney Hosting “Slumber Party” For Rubio, Christie ” CBS Miami

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Jeb Bush had lunch Monday with Romney, following a holiday weekend in which the 2012 GOP presidential nominee hosted Chris Christie and Marco Rubio at his home in New Hampshire.

Just friends, mind you, not prospective endorsees: Time notes that Romney pledged at his “E2 Summit” in Utah last month, attended by Christie and Rubio, along with other would-be presidents, that he doesn’t plan to pick sides in the 2016 GOP primary.

The two couples will be overnight guests of Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at his 11-acre estate in Wolfeboro, N.H., the Post said.

Since that decision, Romney, reported the Washington Post, has spoken with Rubio at least twice on the phone and “encouraged and mentored the 43-year-old Florida senator about the political landscape, according to a Romney associate”.

The Christie-Romney meeting is seen as an effort to overcome the bitter taste left from the final week in the 2012 election, when Christie declined to campaign with Romney after Hurricane Sandy ravaged his state, and instead warmly embraced President Obama as they toured the New Jersey coast together.

“Mitt and Ann, as I’ve said many, many times are friends of ours”, Christie said.

The campaign will be managed by Ken McKay, who formerly worked for the Republican National Committee and Republican Governors Association.