Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Romney's Congressional Outreach

My mole in Washington sent me a copy of a subscription only article in Roll Call detailing former Governor Mitt Romney's outreach to Congressional Republicans. The big news is that GOP Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) is considering giving Romney his endorsement. From the article:

Republican presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is making a concerted effort to build a coalition of House Members to act as campaign liaisons, and early signs indicate that Romney is the likely favorite of a growing number of Republicans, including Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio).

Boehner has not endorsed Romney, but knowledgeable sources said the Minority Leader is leaning strongly in his favor.

"He likes him - a lot - but he's not there just yet," said one source.
The article also lists Congressmen Jim McCrery (R-LA), Howard McKeon (R-CA) and Dave Camp (R-MI) as in Romney's camp. Congressman Tom Feeney (R-FL) is also expected to announce his endorsement Friday. The article also reports that Romney and his team have been having meetings with prominent House Republicans like former speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO). Of particular importance is getting a bloc of Southern members to come out for our former Governor, to show that he's viable amongst Southern evangelicals.

By the way, Political Wire also noticed this article and titled their post "Romney May Get Boehner", which the twelve-year-old kid in me thinks is hilarious.