Monday, September 24, 2007

MITT ROMNEY

Michigan GOP Chairman: Romney Name Helps Among Older Voters

Romney’s win in the Mackinac Straw Poll raises a question I’ve been chewing over for a while: In Michigan, what is the Romney name worth in terms of support? (George W. Romney was chairman of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, then served as governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969. He ran for president in 1968.) I’ve heard Mitt-backers say that fond memories of his father have given him a deep reservoir of support, and that this is in fact the blue state Romney has the best shot of winning over to the red column. (He announced his campaign there.) I've heard other campaigns strongly disagreeing, saying that was then, this is now, and that happy memories of his father won't necessarily carry much weight when the votes mean something...

I asked Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis for his take, and he said, “I think if you are older than 55, you probably have some ‘good memories’ of Governor Romney, and there are a lot of people over 55 in Michigan. If you’re older than 47 or so, you may have still met Romney, like I did as a cub scout. So it will help with name ID and probably help build a positive impression. Now how big or how deep will that positive impression go, hard to say. Definitely some and maybe more.” 

Watching Romney greeting voters on C-SPAN about a week or two ago, I remember one woman coming up and telling him he was the spitting image of his father.

09/24 11:27 AMShare