For about three weeks, Mitt Romney was running - making speeches, trying to raise money, putting his finger into the wind. And here's what the wind told him: don't do it. The governor says many of his previous donors are now committed to Jeb Bush, so he's not running in 2016. But there is something else. According to a recent Fox News poll, there was some bad news for Governor Romney. When asked whether Romney would have done a better job as president than Barack Obama, 43% said yes and 50% said no. That was very bad news for Mitt Romney. Now let's look ahead. The same poll asked which candidate you would like to see as Republican nominee without Romney. 15% of Republicans went for Jeb Bush, 13% each for Rand Paul and Mike Huckabee, with Ben Carson and Scott Walker rounding out the top five. So that means it is anybody's race, and for those men it might be worthwhile to look back and see why Romney lost the last time around. Until two weeks before the vote, he was leading in the national polls. But in the last week of the campaign, dominated by Superstorm Sandy coverage, Romney seemed to disappear. Adding to that, in the last debate on foreign policy, the governor stumbled and did not confront the president with the Benghazi debacle. That was inexplicable, a huge blunder. As I've said before, I don't believe Mitt Romney really wanted to win the presidency. It could have been subconscious, but no aggressive candidate would do what he did. Barack Obama had massive trouble with the economy and his foreign policy was beginning to unravel. Yet the governor did not exploit those key things. This time, against a very powerful and well-funded Hillary Clinton, the Republican candidate is going to have to be charismatic, daring, and coherent. It's actually a good thing for the Republicans that Mitt Romney is not running. Now, somebody new will be on the big stage. But they'd better be ready for a bruising battle."

Political analysts Tom Bevan and Chris Wilson examined the Republican field and the effect of Mitt Romney's withdrawal. "It is good news for Republicans that Romney isn't running," Bevan said, "because it gives them a chance to get a fresh start. And a lot of Republicans thought that race in 2012 was winnable and Romney was a poor candidate." Wilson suggested that, at this early stage, Romney's departure benefits Jeb Bush. "Bush is the front-runner and it's important to remember that Mitt Romney wasn't going to be the Republican nominee. He would have taken votes away from Bush and Chris Christie and some of the other moderate candidates. But this will be a wide open race." The Factor remained perplexed by Romney's strategy at the end of the 2012 race: "We have never been able to find out why the Romney campaign turned down media requests in the final days of the race, why he was so passive."

Al Jazeera's English language outlet has ordered its reporters to avoid words such as "terrorists" and "Islamist" and "jihad." The Factor scrutinized Al Jazeera, owned by the government of Qatar, with Adam Shapiro of the Fox Business Network. "Qatar doesn't need the money that the network generates," Shapiro reported. "Qatar exports $200-billion in oil and gas every year, that's what's funding Al Jazeera, which has been linked with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Sunni rebels. But Al Jazeera is very popular around the world, it's the second largest media network behind the BBC." The Factor implied that Al Jazeera is harming the USA, saying, "They put out all kinds of propaganda, they are actively helping the jihad."

As reported previously, a music video glorifying anti-cop violence features two New York City public defenders. FNC's Geraldo Rivera, a former public defender himself, added that the lawyers also lied about their participation in the video. "I think they should be fired," he declared, "but not for participating in the video. What they did is not illegal, but this is about the lying and the deceit and their misrepresentation. It's always the cover-up, it's not the crime. These are city employees who lied to city officials. Ergo, they should lose the right to work."

According to new government stats, all the net new jobs created since 2007 have gone to immigrants. Steve Camarota, a staunch opponent of illegal immigration, weighed in on the issue. "There are about 2-million more immigrants working now than there were in 2000," he said, "and there are about 1.5-million fewer native-born people working. So whatever job growth there has been has all gone to the foreign-born. We have seen a decline in the number of people who are actively looking for work, they are completely out of the labor force. The question is, why is Congress thinking about increasing legal and illegal immigration?"

Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch refuses to talk with reporters covering the Super Bowl. Greg Gutfeld and Bernard McGuirk, two men always in Beast Mode, discussed the media-loathing Lynch. "I'm obsessed with this trend of every name ending in 'shawn,'" Gregshawn observed. "You have Marshawn, Keyshawn, Lashawn, and there's even Eric Shawn. It's driving me crazy! But I think Marshawn Lynch is refreshing - you'll never hear him using sports clichés because he doesn't even speak." McGuirk implied that Lynch has good reason to shun the press. "The sports media are obsequious to these athletes' faces, and then they savage them in print or on the air. That's why athletes hate 'em. But this guy has a history, he's been fined for grabbing his crotch." Nevertheless, The Factor praised Marshawn Lynch for overcoming a very tough childhood: "He's got a foundation, he's trying to help kids, and I kind of like this guy. He's making an indelible impression."

During a recent visit to Colorado, Jesse Watters asked some people whether the Jets or the Dolphins will win the Super Bowl. Despite the fact that neither of those teams could find the Super Bowl on a map, the interviewees were highly opinionated: "I'm rooting for the Dolphins, I live in Miami," one young woman said, while another added, "I like the little Dolphins, they're really cute." Watters also asked about Jets running back John Stossel, who tested positive for marijuana. "I don't see how it affects the way he plays football," said one libertarian-leaning man. The Coloradans even took it in stride when Watters told them the Super Bowl would include a female place kicker and an illegal immigrant, presumably not the same person.

Michael Careuthers, Altamonte Springs, FL: "O'Reilly, you are lying when it comes to Bowe Bergdahl. Desertion requires that a soldier not return to his union of his own volition. Bergdahl was captured and could not return, you dolt!"

Tom Mulligan, Chatham, NJ: "Bill, you continue to be the ultimate contortionist - twisting every which way in not condemning Barack Obama for the Bergdahl debacle."

Barbara Witt, Indianapolis, IN: "O'Reilly, you asked Col. Peters how long the White House could get away with dragging the Bergdahl case out. Well, have Fast and Furious, Benghazi, and the IRS scandal been resolved?"

You would be well advised to check out a new Fox Business Network program called "Strange Inheritance," which examines some of the truly bizarre things left to people by their relatives.