Jun 30, 2009 9:39 pm US/Eastern
Romney's Return To Statehouse Recalls Tidy Tenure
By GLEN JOHNSON, AP Political Writer
BOSTON (AP) ―
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Romney's portrait was revealed Tuesday.
WBZ
One by one, potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates are fading away or facing challenges.
Nevada Sen. John Ensign and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford both acknowledged extramarital affairs in recent weeks. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is writing a book to set the record straight about her life and 2008 vice presidential candidacy -- a challenge considering a new 9,000-word Vanity Fair profile examining both.
Through it all, Mitt Romney keeps plodding along with the beat of a metronome. It's a steadiness he displayed as governor of Massachusetts, a tidy tenure recalled Tuesday as he returned to the Statehouse to see his official portrait unveiled.
Fittingly, he is depicted in a business suit and office setting, appropriate for someone who favors starched shirts and spending the Fourth of July weekend on a New Hampshire lake with his five sons, 14 grandchildren and one wife.
"I think one of his strengths has always been that he's a good, decent guy," said Charlie Arlinghaus of Canterbury, N.H., who heads a conservative think-tank in the Granite State and once ran its Republican Party. "It's hard not to look at him and not say, `Cleaning up the Salt Lake Olympics was a good thing.' And being a good family man is always a plus."
Yet Arlinghaus and political activists in other early voting states say it's unclear whether Romney will benefit from his potential rivals' stumbles.
"He's kept his nose clean, but it's way too early to tell how things shake out," said Steve Scheffler, president of the Iowa Christian Alliance.
He recalled how Romney, seeking to become the first Mormon elected president, was running strong in Iowa before social conservatives stepped up behind former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and helped him win the 2008 Iowa caucuses. They maintain their concern about the authenticity of Romney's views on abortion, gay rights and government spending, Scheffler said.
For his part, Romney is trying to manage speculation about his presidential ambitions.
He stepped onto the national stage Sunday with an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," but he demurred when asked the obvious question about whether he was considering a second White House campaign.
"That's way beyond my horizon at this point," Romney declared. "What I'm laying the foundation for is picking up seats in 2010. We've got some governors races in '09 in Virginia and in, and New Jersey."
Yet Romney poked at Sanford, saying people in public life have to recognize they are held to a higher standard "because what they do is going to be magnified."
Romney's portrait was painted by New Hampshire artist Richard Whitney for $30,000 in private donations. Whitney is known for his realistic paintings, and has done portraits of Virginia Sen. Jim Webb and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich.
By tradition, Romney's picture will hang in the lobby of the third-floor Governor's Office. And its hanging will displace the seventh of the portraits also on display.
That portrait depicts former Gov. John Volpe, who served alongside Romney's father, former Michigan Gov. George Romney, in the Cabinet of President Richard Nixon. Volpe's portrait will now hang in the halls, as does George Romney's in the Michigan Statehouse in Lansing.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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