Before being elected governor of Massachusetts in 2002, Mitt Romney headed up the Salt Lake City Olympic Organizing Committee earlier that same year. He had also made a run for the U.S. Senate against Ted Kennedy in 1994 and lost. However, he did so much better against Kennedy that most of his previous challengers had done, that his loss actually helped boost his political career.

Since being elected governor, he has become one of the bright young stars of the Republican Party and surprisingly finished second in a recent straw poll of Republican insiders. Romney is a good speaker and an excellent campaigner. This could give him a big advantage over many of the other GOP hopefuls, which are perceived by many to be dull and boring. However, his Mormon faith could hurt him with religious fundamentalists in the GOP primaries. Many of them feel that Mormonism is a cult.

His father, the late George Romney, served as governor of Michigan and sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 but lost to Richard Nixon. His father's remarks made during the nominating process about having been "brainwashed" about Viet Nam ultimately cost him the nomination. Should Mitt Romney decide to run, he will want to avoid that kind of blunder.

Terry Mitchell

Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, blogger, and amateur political analyst from Hopewell, VA. He's been in the software development/engineering line of work for over 24 years.

He blogs and writes about various subjects such as current events, politics, cultural and social issues, health and well-being, personal finance, religion, technology, media issues, law, government, sports, humor, and trivia.

Through the BlogBurst network, his blog entries are often carried on the Website of the Houston Chronicle, one of the top newspapers in America. In addition, his columns and essays regularly appear on American Chronicle's network of 21 online magazines. They have also appeared online on American Daily, Media Monitors International, Opinion Editorials, The Washington Dispatch, Arrivenet, and hundreds of additional websites.

Terry never misses an opportunity to assail political correctness and take pot shots at the conventional foolishness. He's not a bandwagon jumper - he writes stuff that others should be writing, but are not. He thinks of himself as a kind of modern American philosopher. His blog offers commentary from a unique point of view that is not often found in mainstream media.

Terry would love to have his blog picked up and syndicated by a major news or web organization. He also plans to write a book based on his blog. But, for now, he mainly writes for free as a hobby and enjoys having his aritcles posted on as many websites, ezines, news letters, newspapers, and magazines as possible.