It is not uncommon for prominent Massachusetts politicians to run for president. They are often expected to do so; what is unusual is for one to run by appealing to the most conservative wing of the Republican Party. But little of Mitt Romney’s political career has followed a conventional path. Mr. Romney was raised in a political family. His father, George W. Romney, was a moderate Republican who ran the American Motors Corporation, served as governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, and was briefly a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968.
Mitt Romney is a man on a mission. To him, he is a man on his way to the White House. Romney, who previously served as governor of Massachusetts, has made no doubt about the fact that he wants the job now held by President George W. Bush. If you talk to those in the Romney camp, he is not just the only candidate worthy to carry the conservative baton; he is the only conservative candidate that can win the nomination. With the governor incredible campaign war chest that is the envy of his second-tiered conservative rivals after he raised $23 million, Romney is in a campaign to make sure that he remains king of the conservative hill.
But Romney’s road to the White House is not paved completely with roses and gold. The 50-year-old politician, while sporting the picture perfect “all American” family, has some obstacles he has to address prior to claiming the top conservative prize. Some conservative Christians have questioned the intensity of Romney’s opposition to abortion because, when he was running for governor, he said he would not seek additional restrictions. And some conservative evangelicals also wonder about his Mormonism. Pat Robertson, who has not endorsed any of the 2008 presidential candidates, called Romney an “outstanding American.”
Romney aides have been repeatedly asked if the candidate will deliver an address explaining his religion, as John F. Kennedy did in 1960 when he ran as the first major Roman Catholic presidential candidate since Democrat Al Smith in 1928. They have generally dismissed the idea, but without slamming the door on the possibility. They say that voters are more concerned about Romney’s views on issues than about the particulars of his faith, although some published polls have shown that a sizable number of Americans have expressed a reluctance to support a Mormon for president.