Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney officially announced his bid for the presidency in 2008 from Dearborn, Mich. yesterday.
With one term as Massachusetts governor under his belt, Romney faces an uphill battle against political heavyweights like former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and current U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.).
He filed the paperwork to form a presidential exploratory with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Jan. 3, his next-to-last day as governor.
Tooling himself as an outsider with an eye toward reform, Romney hopes to reshape "big politics."
"I don't believe Washington can be transformed from within by lifetime politicians," Romney told the media yesterday in a speech at Dearborn's Henry Ford Museum, according to the Associated Press (AP). "There've been too many deals, too many favors, too many entanglements - and too little real world experience managing, guiding, leading."
The former governor is a major contender, according to the AP. Even so, Romney has consistently lagged in the polls behind Republicans Giuliani, McCain and former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich. According to the most recent poll from Rasmussen Reports, 9 percent of respondents supported Romney, while 27 percent supported the leader in the poll, Giuliani.
Domestically, Romney wants to cut taxes, improve education, reduce the size of government and improve health care. While governor, he helped implement the nation's first-ever universal health care coverage plan in Massachusetts and wiped out a $3 billion budget deficit with no tax increases.
Abroad, Romney supports the war in Iraq.
"So long as there is a reasonable prospect of success, our wisest course is to seek stability in Iraq, with additional troops to secure the civilian population," he said in the speech.
Romney has a long road ahead of him, however, and will need to build name recognition, overcome skepticism about his Mormon faith, and appeal to social conservatives.
To this last end, he has begun distancing himself from some of the more liberal policy options he has taken in the past.
Jordan Greene, Tufts Republicans president, has yet to pass judgment on Romney as a candidate. "I'm not going to give my endorsement to him or anything. I'll see what he has to say in the next six months," Greene said.
Greene feels that Romney's past can make him a credible contender for the presidency. "Obviously Romney is an attractive candidate - look at his business background for instance. The fact that he eliminated debt in Massachusetts and created large profits is impressive."
Before entering the political arena, Romney was involved in the business sector. A few years after graduating in 1975 with an MBA from Harvard Business School and a law degree from Harvard Law School as part of a joint degree program, Romney became vice president of Bain & Company. He later went on to found a separate business called Bain Capital. He also served as president and CEO of the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2002.
Kayt Norris, president of the Tufts Democrats, is not as impressed by the former governor. She said Romney strayed from supporting certain issues to avoid being branded too liberal.
"He knew [that], when running, people would cite Massachusetts and say, 'Look how liberal Mitt Romney is,'" Norris said.
For example, in his failed 1994 U.S. Senate campaign, Romney previously supported abortion rights and promised to be an advocate for gay rights. He has now come out in favor of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Massachusetts and calls himself staunchly pro-life.
Norris thinks Romney's state will also leave him at a disadvantage with Southern conservatives.
"I think that the Republicans rely heavily on the Southern vote, and I think it would just be very hard for Mitt Romney to work with the Evangelical Christian crowd down there," she said.
Romney will begin his campaign with a tour of eastern states, which will finish with a fundraiser in Boston.
