Mitt Romney

(CC) Photo: Daniella Zalcman
Mitt Romney at a rally in Salem, NH.

Mitt Romney (born Willard Mitt Romney March 12, 1947) is an American politician and businessman, former governor of Massachusetts and currently a leading Republican candidate for president in the 2008 election. He is a Mormon (that is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), but Christian fundamentalists suggest his church is a cult.

2008 campaign

For daily update on the polls see [2]

see 2008 United States presidential election

Romney has a $75 million budget, of which $17 million is from his own pocket. His main techniques are elaborate statewide organization, and tens of thousands of television and radio ads, supported with many personal appearances. He has been endorsed by only a few newspapers, and has been dogged by accusations that he radically changed his positions to a hard-right position (especially on immigration) from being a moderate governor, in order to attract right-wing support.

Romney's strategy was to pour millions of dollars ($17 million of it his personal money) into Iowa and New Hampshire, hoping that victories there on January 3 and 8, 2008, would generate massive favorable publicity. That publicity supposedly would propel him into a dominant position in the Super Tuesday primaries on Feb. 5, 2008, when 45% of the delegates will be chosen. Outspent by Romney 10-1, Mike Huckabee nevertheless scored a major upset in the Iowa caucuses, coming in first and beating Romney by 9 points. Huckabee swept the votes of evangelical Christians who comprise about 47% of the Iowa Republicans, and 35% of Republicans nationwide. Analysts concluded Romney had to win in New Hampshire to remain viable, but he was defeated by Senator John McCain 37-32%, who made a stunning comeback after most thought he was politically dead. Romney promised to fight on, but stopped his TV ads in South Carolina (which has a primary on Jan. 19) to concentrate on the Jan. 15 Michigan primaries in the state where he was born and his father was governor. Current polls show a close race in Michigan between Romney and Senator John McCain, although McCain has a wide lead nationwide that Romney has to overcome by Feb. 5.

Career

Romney is the son of George Romney (1907-1995), who was a prominent Detroit automaker and president of American Motors. He served as governor of Michigan and ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 1964 and 1968.

Mitt attended a Mormon college, Brigham Young University (BA 1971), spent two years as a Mormon missionary in France (thus fulfilling a requirement for all Mormon men), and graduated from Harvard Business School (MBA 1975) and Harvard Law School (JD 1975). In the 1980s he was president for four years of the Mormon Stake in Boston, equivalent to bishop. He is married to Ann Romney and has five children and ten grandchildren.

In Boston Romney became vice president of Bain and Company, a consulting form. In 1984 he founded Bain Capital, an investment company that specialized in "turnarounds" (buying out a faltering company, reorganizing it, and selling it for a profit). He came under attack in his campaign for downsizing the work forces, and for having American companies keep their operations in the U.S. but reincorporate in the Bahamas to escape all income taxes. His fortune has been estimated in the hundreds of millions.

Romney governed the state as a moderate Republican, who supported abortion and gay rights and did not support President Bush's 2001 tax cuts. However in running for president he reversed previous moderate positions, suddenly became a hard-line conservative spokesman.

Politics

Romney ran as a moderate Republican in 1994 against Senator Ted Kennedy; he lost but established a reputation as a solid campaigner.

Bibliography

• Barone, Michael, and Richard E. Cohen. Almanac of American Politics: 2006 (2005)
• Hewitt, Hugh. A Mormon in the White House?: 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney (2007), highly favorable excerpt and text search
• Turner, Lisa Ray, and Kimberly Field. Mitt Romney: The Man, His Values and His Vision (2007), highly favorable

External links

• recent newspaper and magazine articles
• Official Romney website
• Official Mitt Romney MySpace