Key Bush operatives are backing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. They are led by Sally Bradshaw, Bush's former campaign manager and chief of staff; Ann Herberger, Bush's finance director; and Mandy Fletcher, who just stepped down as executive director of Bush's Foundation for Florida's Future.

Romney's Florida team is pushing for an October straw ballot in which 3,500 Republican delegates would cast nonbinding votes for president. The October vote would bring attention from the nation's news media and give the winner a boost going into the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.

...anyone familiar with Bradshaw, and her deep devotion to Bush, understands that she would not have agreed to join Romney's campaign without a nod from Bush...

With Bradshaw on board, it quickly became clear to other key Bush supporters that Romney is the former governor's favorite. Last week, two top Bush fund-raisers, Mark Guzzetta, a Boca Raton developer, and Mel Sembler, a Tampa shopping center developer, joined Romney.

Some of the wooing began Friday, when Romney met with nearly 100 Republicans in the downtown Orlando offices of the Gray-Robinson law firm. He was introduced by Orange County Mayor Richard Crotty. After the introduction, Romney gave a brief speech and then answered a few questions.

One participant described it as a "low-key" event without "a lot of hard sell."

"I really like the guy," said William A. "Hoe" Brown, a Tampa-area developer who attended the Gray-Robinson event. "I like his business approach to things, and he's very, very smart."

Any victory for John McCain is not significant," said the GOP strategist backing McCain. "Only defeats are significant, and if McCain loses the straw ballot, he will get hammered in the national press."

Bush, on the other hand, has said the straw ballot convention - dubbed Presidency IV - would be "a great idea."