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The Boston Globe has the story.

Over cold cuts, cookies, and soft drinks, Governor Mitt Romney made his presidential pitch two Sundays ago to prominent Tennessee Republicans at the home of a newly elected state senator outside Nashville. Romney’s public schedule that day didn’t list the event. Members of the mainstream press weren’t invited. But influential Nashville-area bloggers Bill Hobbs and Nathan Moore were, and both penned accounts Romney must have liked. Hobbs likened the governor to Ronald Reagan. Moore called Romney impressive and declared him “a formidable candidate for the 2008 nomination.

Salt Lake Tibune has the story.

Days away from launching the first leg of his presidential bid, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is skiing, dining and huddling with family members and associates in Utah before jetting back to Boston on Sunday. “We’ve already begun a series of, if you will, fireside chats with my family – my five daughters-in-law, my five sons, and Ann and I have a spent a lot of time talking about the future of our country,” Romney told Human Events, a conservative weekly, in an interview published Thursday on the publication’s Web site.

Boston.com has the story. Laying the foundation of a presidential candidacy, Governor Mitt Romney has spent all or part of 212 days outside Massachusetts so far in 2006, an average of more than four days on the road each week, a Globe review of his public schedules shows. Since announcing a year ago he would not seek reelection, Romney has been a one-man barnstorming show, traveling to 35 states and eight countries and logging well over 200,000 air miles.

Romney skips Marine’s funeral – One cannot be in two places at once, but Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney surely wishes it could be so. He is taking flak for spending considerable time away from his job in Boston. With an eye on 2008, Romney is fervently working early primary states like South Carolina and Michigan.  He is spending time and money supporting other Republican candidates in those states. But by doing so, he has been absent from Mass. for 23 of the past 35 days. The operative idea behind all this frenetic travel and spending is, of course, the ancient political doctrine of quid pro quo. If Romney can help candidates win in November’s mid-term election, then he can theoretically reap political capital come 2008. For all potential presidential candidates, the current election season is all about what favors can be bestowed upon local officials in early battleground states with the hope of reciprocity in 2008. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has pledged to return home for important occasions and prided himself on attending the funerals of state servicemen, skipped the funeral of a Marine yesterday to campaign in South Carolina and Michigan. “Gov. Romney was not at the funeral because he was out of state,” Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney’s communications director, said. “He spoke with the widow and the soldier’s mother, and the widow is coming to meet with him privately.”

Source: Concord Monitor

Via L.A. Times:  Mass. Governor Hires Jeb Bush Aide for ’08 Bid. So many candidates, so few strategists. There are just so many good Republican strategists available for hire and Mitt Romney has bagged one of the better operators for his 2008 presidential bid: Sally Bradshaw, a longtime political advisor and confidante to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, confirmed Thursday that she has signed on as a consultant to Romney’s political action committee. Known in Florida circles as Jeb Bush’s equivalent to President Bush’s Karl Rove, Bradshaw will advise the Romney campaign on navigating the complicated political contours of the most populous battleground state. But more important in the context of what is likely to be a competitive GOP primary, Bradshaw\’s presence helps Romney shore up his credentials with conservatives who view the Florida governor as one of their favorite Republicans.