BELMONT, MASS.:– Mitt Romney was dead tired today. Uncharacteristically, it showed.
After a 37-hour cross-country tour Romney woke up this morning (after spending the night sleeping on the floor of an airplane) and sandwiched an appearance on Fox into his already overstuffed schedule. A dust up ensued after Romney’s chief rival John McCain took offense to Romney’s off-hand comment that Bob Dole “is probably the last person I would have wanted to write a letter for me.” Romney’s remark came in response to questions about a missive Dole wrote defending McCain to conservative talk radio host and McCain critic Rush Limbaugh. At a press conference in Charleston, West Virginia today, Romney said he had not intended to insult Dole and had been referring to the fact that the former Republican presidential candidate and senator from Kansas is a Washington insider. But by then the conflict was already leading newscasts and was being framed McCain’s way – “Romney attacks war hero Dole.” A rested Romney would not have made such a mistake, but today Romney was not rested. He quickly sought to make amends, calling Dole from the front of his campaign plane shortly after the press conference at which the alleged snub became an issue. Dole wasn’t around so Romney left a message.
Romney hasn’t had many breaks this campaign season, the Dole episode being just one of many unlucky moments. Less than two hours after leaving Dole a message, Romney’s plane from Charleston had landed in Massachusetts so the former governor could vote at his local town hall in Belmont, Mass. As he descended the stairs after voting (poll workers joked with him about shredding his wife’s ballot), in his typical aw shucks style Romney said to no one in particular, “That’s pretty fun. First time I’ve ever voted for myself for president.” The chipper facade was an act. It was impossible to miss the keen disappointment in Romney’s eyes. Minutes before he voted news came across the wire that West Virginia, where Romney spent the morning wooing voters and apologizing to Dole (McCain skipped the state) had gone to Huckabee. What had to hurt most about the news is the fact that Romney won the initial round of voting. It was only after a second round – winners must reach a margin above 50 percent – that McCain asked his relatively paltry circle of supporters to throw their weight behind Huckabee, giving the Arkansas governor the edge in a state Romney had counted on winning.
With the sting of West Virginia’s loss just minutes old, Romney refused to take questions from the press and ignored shouted queries about his reaction to the loss, instead issuing a brief statement about his excitement at seeing his name on the ballot. As he held a sample ballot for the cameras, Romney mused about what he would do when he got back to his home in this ritzy Boston bedroom community today. He said he planned to have dinner and relax before returning to downtown Boston’s convention center for what he called his “celebration party.” (Note: not a victory party).
“It’s wonderful to be back in our own home,” Romney said. “This is the first time we’ve been in our home for a day since Christmas so it’s nice to get back and to scare the rodents out…Open the mail, we have a lot of mail, I don’t know, hot bath,” he said. Looking at his wife, Romney added: “What do you think, Ann?” “Sounds good,” she purred before going on to thank all their supporters in what was an unusually long-winded address. “It’s been an honor as Mitt mentioned to be going across this nation and seeing the kind of support we’ve had all across the country,” Ann said. “I’m grateful to my children, I’m grateful to the many people across this country who have helped us in so many ways…We love the liberty that this country is so blessed with.”
