Mitt Romney, Basking In the Momentum

By: Perry Bacon Jr.

Washington Post

Tuesday, Sep 04, 2007

"Former senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee will grab most of the headlines this week as he enters the race for the White House, but Mitt Romney likes where he stands in the contest for the Republican nomination.

"'When I started running seven months ago, I was at 5 percent in the national polls,' the former Massachusetts governor said at a question-and-answer session here. 'Now I won the Iowa straw poll; I'm ahead here in New Hampshire, ahead in Michigan, ahead in the Nevada.'

"The energetic Romney, who is shown jogging in a television ad that his campaign is running in the Granite State, put his energetic approach to work on Labor Day: two speeches, two town hall meetings, a parade and a breakfast stop to greet voters at a restaurant in Moultonborough. His exertions required several outfit changes, from tie but no jacket to jacket and tie and then, before the parade in 80-degree heat, khakis and a polo shirt."

...

"Even at 8 a.m. in Moultonborough, a tiny town in central New Hampshire, Romney was his usual hyper-focused self as he surveyed the Village Kitchen, shaking more than a hundred hands, posing for dozens of pictures and signing a slew of autographs, all in about 30 minutes."

...

"In Milford, Romney darted back and forth at what could have been a presidential convention, with Romney and Sens. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) all leading large groups of supporters through the streets."

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"Romney was the only GOP contender in New Hampshire on Labor Day, and two of his main opponents, the undeclared Thompson and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, did not hold any events yesterday. At a news conference before the parade, Romney could not resist a few jabs at Thompson. 'Why the hurry? Why not take a little longer?' he said when asked about Thompson starting his official campaign after months on the sidelines."...

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