(I know Jeff posted something on this yesterday, but I posted this at www.race42008.com and cross posted it here.)




Is Romney the Regan Candidate? Ronald Kessler and NewsMax seems to think so. They have a great article out on Romney today that has many interesting stories about his life dovetailed with his many successes in the private and public sectors.

It starts of with this great story:

Mitt Romney was faced with a crisis in July 1996. The 14-year-old daughter of Robert Gay, a partner in Romney's new venture capital firm, Bain Capital, had disappeared. As it turned out, she had attended a rave party in New York City and had become high on ecstasy. Three days later, her distraught father had no idea where she was.

Romney took immediate action. He closed down the entire firm and asked all 30 partners and employees to fly to New York to try to find Gay's daughter.

Romney set up a command center in a conference room at the LaGuardia Marriott just outside Manhattan. He hired a private detective firm to assist with the search and established a toll-free number for tips, coordinating the effort with the New York City Police Department, but he still wasn't satisfied. He raced through his Rolodex and called everyone Bain did business with in New York. He asked them to help his company find their friend's missing daughter.

The company's accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and its law firm, put up posters on street poles with a photo of the missing teenager. Cashiers at Duane Reade Pharmacies, which was owned by Bain Capital, put fliers in the bag of each shopper.

Romney and others from the Bain Capital posse trudged through every part of New York, even scouring Central Park, and talked with everyone they could - prostitutes, drug addicts - anyone who may have seen her. They also made rounds at the local nightclubs at 3 a.m., hoping someone somewhere could identify her.

The same day the Romney team came to New York, the hunt made the evening news. Television cameras showed photos of the girl and video of investment banker types prowling through Central Park.

The next day, a teenage boy she was with phoned in. He asked if there was a reward. But the boy got nervous and quickly hung up. Luckily, the police traced the call to a home in Montville Township, N.J.

Gay's daughter, when they found her in the basement of that home, was shivering through detox after a massive dose of ecstasy. Doctors later told Gay that he was indeed fortunate - his daughter probably would not have lasted another day.

"It was the most amazing thing, and I'll never forget this to the day I die," Gay says, adding of Romney's intervention, "I'm not sure we would have gotten her back without him."

That isn't a story I have heard before.

After sifting through his many accomplishments we get a glimpse of what the top Democrats and Republicans are thinking of Romney:

When asked which Republican candidate she fears the most, Donna Brazile - who managed Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign - replies, "Mitt Romney." Asked whether Romney's religion will hurt him, Ted Kennedy said recently, "The answer is no. We've moved on. That died with my brother Jack."

Romney is "a spectacular candidate," says Republican strategist Mary Matalin, a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney. "He is methodical, and he's definitely got the happy warrior thing. He's substantive, and he's got executive skills. And he's 21st century, too." Romney's Mormon religion will turn out to be a plus, she says, because people "like that have a source of strength."

In January I was eating at a restaurant here in Chicago. Before we were seated I was staood next to a man who was yaking on his cell phone. Turns out he was some Democrat strategist guy in the area. He was talking about how in 2008 he really didn't think Repub's stand a chance because of Bush. But he said something to the effect that Romney is probably the only candidate who could really give them a run for the money (can't remember his exact words now.) His connection cut out and he hung up. I then started talking to him and gave him my card for MyManMitt. We talked for a second and then his phone rang again, he answered by walked about 20 feet away from me to talk, so I couldn't hear. I thought it was kind of funny.

Romney's polling numbers are lower than McCain and Giuliani, but they have been consistently inching up since February. His name recognition is also low, but I suspect all this will change over the next 6 month. It's easy to underestimate someone based on polls, yet we need to remember these are only one piece of the puzzle at this stage in the game. The Dems, as evidenced by Brazile and the many DNC press reports, clearly understand that Romney in a general election would be tough to beat. Romney's intellect (far above the rest of the field), his leadership abilities, and his articulate manner is really unmatched by any candidate on either side of the line.