Mitt Romney: U.S. presidential election, 2008

Mitt Romney is the Republican governor of Massachusetts. He is considered to be a possible presidential candidate in 2008. He has not, however, formed an exploratory committee to begin raising funds for his bid. Many observers believe that he will forgo this step entirely and simply formally declare his candidacy in January 2007.

Political Action Committees
Given that Romney did not form an exploratory committee, much of his preparation for a possible presidential campaign has crystallized around his political action committee. Romney's Commonwealth PAC was created in 2004 and has since dispersed campaign funds to over 500 Republican candidates and political organizations nationwide. In 2006, it became a de facto organizing body for his potential presidential ambitions and began to sign on a variety of advisers that could form the backbone of a national campaign in 2007-2008. 

Media team

 * Jared Young, press secretary, Commonwealth PAC
 * Kevin Madden, spokesman and communications strategist, former press secretary to Rep. John Boehner

PAC Political advisers

 * Noam Neusner, former speechwriter on domestic policy matters for George W. Bush
 * Barbara Comstock, former director of the Office of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Justice
 * Sally Bradshaw
 * Tom Rath, senior advisor

PAC Economic advisers

 * Glenn Hubbard, co-chair of the PAC's economic advisory council, co-architect of the Bush tax cuts
 * Greg Mankiw, co-chair of the PAC's economic advisory council, co-architect of the Bush tax cuts
 * Cesar Conda, senior economic adviser

South

 * J. Warren Tompkins, III, Senior adviser for Southeastern Region
 * Eric Tanenblatt, Southern Advisory Team member, focus on Georgia; leader, Georgia Finance Team

Northeast

 * Bruce Keough, chairman of the New Hampshire Steering Committee
 * Rick Killion, adviser for New Hampshire

Midwest

 * Christopher Rants, adviser, Iowa House Speaker

Mormonism
Romney is a Mormon and that fact has been one of the most talked about issues regarding his potential presidential run. An internal pro-Romney poll showed that 37% of Americans said that they would not vote for a Mormon for president. According to RunMittRun.org, "a political organization supportive of Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s presidential bid," it and a second 527 organization, OurSharedValues.org, "will fund and produce national media campaigns related to" religious bias, the "remarkable overall ignorance of the basic tenets of Mormonism", and that "Evangelical Christians have never had a candidate whose values and lifestyle more closely mirror their own."

Contact Information
PAC/Campaign Website: http://www.thecommonwealthpac.com/ PAC/Campaign Website: http://www.runmittrun.org

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * U.S. presidential election, 2008