If you take Elizabeth Warren at her (admittedly present-tense) word, that she is not running for president, it seemed as if our modest little Commonwealth could finally prepare for a presidential election in which we’d be a non-factor, with no Massachusetts names in the mix and our paltry 11 electoral votes a lock for whoever the Democrats nominate.

But then Mitt happened. Well, not a lot has actually yet happened. But what’s clear is that Mitt Romney wants everyone to know that it’s possible that something might happen. That something, of course, would be a third run for president by our erstwhile governor.

He did this by meeting on Friday in New York with about 30 Republican donors to tell them he was considering another run, and then making sure word of the quiet gathering became known very quickly to the entire Western world.

All of which prompted the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza to ask, “What the heck is Mitt Romney doing?”

What he’s doing seems to have everything to do with the fact that Jeb Bush has made it very clear he is intent on pursuing the Republican nomination. Romney, who waged an unsuccessful run for the GOP nomination in 2008 and then was the party’s losing nominee in 2012, wants to at least slow down the process a little before the party’s establishment-oriented bigwigs toss all their support — and money — to Jeb.

Though Romney is certainly the most tested — and battle-scarred — of potential GOP candidates, as the Globe’s Matt Viser writes today, his “path to the 2016 nomination could be far more difficult than in 2012.” That is a considerable understatement. Romney’s 2012 competition at times resembled a car full of GOP misfits and crackpots. Viser puts it only slightly more diplomatically, calling it “a weaker field of candidates who at times seemed to be auditioning for a reality television show.”

Even so, it took some time for the party grown-ups to gain control of the rollicking band of conservative showmen and get the nomination in the hands of the one candidate who seemed capable from the start of actually carrying the GOP banner into a general election. “Even former pizza executive Herman Cain caught fire, if only briefly,” reminds Viser.

Some took the Cain mutiny as the most convincing sign of the lack of passion among the party faithful for the former venture capital executive. Romney, however, is apparently not dissuaded from at least pondering a third try — something he and his wife had previously ruled out.

Starting with the $100 million that Bush is reportedly hoping to have banked by April, though, nothing about it would be easy for Romney this time.

“There wasn’t competition for Mitt Romney, period, in 2012. He was the only person qualified in that field,” former senator Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican, told Viser. “Everybody else was trying to write a book or get a TV show. That was a very, very weak and unfortunate field. . . . That’s not going to be the case this time, clearly. It’s going to be a very substantive group of people.”

–MICHAEL JONAS

BEACON HILL

Michael Widmer, the outgoing head of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, talks bluntly about the state’s fiscal challenges in a sitdown with CommonWealth’s Gabrielle Gurley.

Gov. Charlie Baker gathers with friends and supporters where he held his first elected office, the selectmen’s room at Swampscott City Hall, the Item reports.

Baker once again flummoxed the details of a powerful anecdote when, during his inauguration speech, he got the story wrong of an Easton boy who overdosed on opiates, the Brockton Enterprise reports.

In scrutinizing plans for a Boston Olympics bid, Baker says he’ll reach out to a gubernatorial predecessor who knows something about the topic: Mitt Romney, who helmed the organizing committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The Olympics bid will create tension for both Baker and Mayor Marty Walsh, who must be careful not to let it swallow up their primary focus on schools, budgeting, and the other day-to-day priorities of state and local government, write Andrew Ryan and Jim O’Sullivan.

One top aide to former governor Deval Patrick tried to expense a massage and a “scalp soother” during a foreign trade mission, CommonWealth reports.

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

Lawrence mayor Daniel Rivera is facing a no-confidence vote from the City Council, prompted in part by his decision to order a parking ticket be issued to an employee who parked legally in front of City Hall in violation of Rivera’s order, the Eagle-Tribune reports.

A sharp jump in Gloucester tax bills spurs outrage, the Gloucester Times reports.

INTERNATIONAL/NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON

Seth Moulton, the decorated Iraq war veteran who captured the Sixth Congressional District seat in November,wins a seat on the House Armed Services Committee, the Associated Press reports.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is the latest to sit down with Keller@Large for a wide-ranging interview that included an admonishment about corporate influence in legislating and that some financial institutions are “still too big to fail.” The Telegram & Gazette, in an editorial, picks apart Warren’s stances, suggesting her ideas are appealing but her tone is off.

Secretary of State John Kerry will fly to France at the end of the week to show support in the wake of the terrorist attacks. The Obama administration came under heavy criticism for not having a top official attend this weekend’s rally in Paris that drew some 1 million people and leaders from 40 countries.

ELECTIONS

More people nationally are registering to vote as independents.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

The biotech industry is booming, writes the Globe‘s Robert Weisman, but that boom is creating questions and challenges as its cutting-edge drug products threaten to swamp health care payers with enormous new charges for patients. CommonWealth‘s Bruce Mohl wrote about one such drug, the $1,000-per-pill hepatitis C treatment Sovaldi, in the fall issue of the magazine.

The high-profile murder trial of former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez has been a boon for downtown Fall River business, the Herald News reports.

The Boston Herald’s Peter Gelzinis marvels at the rows of picture-perfect produce lining the aisles of the new Whole Foods Supermarket that stands on the spot where the paper’s newsroom and presses once stood and where the combination of sweat and ink once gave off a different perfume.

The state needs to take a regional approach to housing in rural areas, according to the Cape Cod Times.

EDUCATION

A survey of states’ early childhood education programs finds most fare badly in pre-school availability and enrollment despite bipartisan agreement of its importance. Massachusetts, according to the scoring index, falls smack in the middle of the pack with a C-minus.

A Globe editorial says UMass Amherst should trim back or end altogether its expensive football program, whose leap into Division 1 Bowl Subdivision competition has been costly with “precious little to show for it.”CommonWealth wrote about the school’s questionable move two years ago.

HEALTH CARE

The Obama administration, with little attention, has implemented new financial rules for nonprofit hospitals that requires them to limit prices for uninsured, low-income patients and to adopt less aggressive collections tactics for overdue bills.

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

Opponents of the Kinder Morgan pipeline criticize the Patrick administration’s decision to release a report on the state’s future natural gas needs (more) at the last possible minute.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Lowell and Lawrence are the top two spots in the state for nabbing drunk drivers when it comes to State Police “sobriety checkpoints,” reports the Boston Herald.

MEDIA

The Globe under John Henry continues to refashion itself, this week replacing its tabloid g section with a broadsheet with a different theme every day. There’s MondayFamily, TuesdayStories, WednesdayFood, ThursdayScene, Weekend (Friday), and SaturdayLife.

During the “Rants and Raves” segment of Friday’s Beat the Press, one of the panelists took Fox News to the woodshed for showing a picture of another black man while reporting the death of ESPN anchor Stuart Scott. It turns out, however, that the rant was based on a hoax story online. WGBH has removed the video and will issue an on-air correction next week.

The owner of a mostly online community news and information radio station in Haverhill has received FCC approval for a low-wattage FM signal, Dan Kennedy reports.