Romney's motor could provide edge over the long haul

Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney

/ Jim Cole

When Mitt Romney's aides told him last month that the main reason they were skipping Sen. Jim DeMint's Labor Day forum was that he had already committed to attend an event in New Hampshire that day, the candidate was not pleased.

"So you're telling me the reason we're not doing this is logistical?" Romney asked, according to one aide. "That's not good. We're going to the DeMint forum. Make it so."

In addition to the New Hampshire stop, Romney had a flight scheduled later on Labor Day to Nevada for the unveiling of his jobs plan, and aides were leery of overloading him with an event in another corner of the country -- and in South Carolina, no less, which has not figured significantly in his campaign's strategy.

But Mitt Romney has never been the kind of candidate who's especially concerned about the negative repercussions of doing too much.

And so just after the sun rose on Sept. 5, Romney's bags were already waiting on the front step of his Belmont, Mass., home when director of operations Will Ritter arrived to pick him up. It was 6:45 a.m. His day would end at 11 p.m. in Colorado, since the private campaign jet did not have enough fuel to make it all the way to Nevada without a layover.

Presidential campaigns are not endeavors that treat laziness kindly, and all of the Republican contenders have packed and demanding schedules.

But over the course of his last White House run and through the first few months of this one, Romney has proven himself to be a particularly hardworking campaigner who never seems to lose focus, no matter the hour of the day. This tirelessness is a potentially significant asset that could pay major dividends as the candidates' already taxing days become even more arduous.

"He's the kind of guy who will see a hole in the schedule and instead of thinking 'long lunch,' he thinks of doing a campaign headquarters stop-by or a radio interview," Ritter, who has been a fixture at Romney's side since 2006, told RCP. "He can't be stopped, and you almost have to trick him into not doing as much."

Romney is often criticized for lacking an ease with everyday interactions, a quality that has made Rick Perry such a formidable retail campaigner. While many Romney aides dispute the notion that he doesn't relate well to voters, there is little doubt that connecting on a human level is not one of his stronger assets.

But Romney has an often overlooked ability to impress voters simply by being "on" at every moment. In this sense, being a bit robotic can have its advantages.

"I still marvel at the energy he has," said Kevin Madden, Romney's 2008 national press secretary who remains in frequent contact with the candidate's top aides. "When I worked on that campaign in 2008, I was 34 years old and I couldn't keep up with him. I would need half a pot of coffee in the morning, and I was dragging by night. I lost my temper once or twice a day, but I saw him lose his maybe once or twice throughout the whole campaign."

A hard-charger throughout his life in business and during his four political campaigns, the effects of Romney's clean-living lifestyle are self-evident. As one aide put it, "He's not the guy who gets a beer at the end of the night, so you save that hour-and-a-half."

During his 2008 presidential run, it was not unusual for Romney to regale a breakfast crowd in Iowa with an anecdote about his run through the local neighborhood before the early-morning event began or for him to leave aides scrambling to keep up as he jogged through another New Hampshire parade.

Romney is not immune from the allure of the fast-food joints that are staples of just about any campaign-trail diet, but he peels the skin off of his Kentucky Fried Chicken before eating it and orders the turkey burger or grilled chicken sandwich when it's on the menu.

He may be 64 years old, but Romney looks and moves like someone much younger. And while he has committed his fair share of campaign-trail gaffes, he has never appeared to do so out of exhaustion.

In an extended campaign in which every day becomes more physically and emotionally exhausting than the last, his endurance could provide a significant advantage over the rest of the GOP field, all but one of whom are first-time national candidates.

"It's clear that he's in tremendous shape, and there's something to be said for that because this is a marathon," said New Hampshire GOP operative Rich Killion, who worked for Romney in 2008 but is currently unaligned with any candidate. "But it's a marathon predicated on combining six months of daily sprints, and he seems to have the makeup for it. That, coupled with the past experience of having gone through it before, is only going to help him."

As part of their early efforts to prevent Romney from being overexposed, his aides in Boston have for months limited his media appearances and public events, in stark contrast to this point four years ago, when he had been going full-throttle for over six months.

But as the campaign enters the pivotal fall season, no one will be more prepared for the grueling pace than the former Massachusetts governor.

Romney's New Hampshire consultant Jim Merrill noted that the candidate has already engaged directly with voters at 10 town-hall meetings in the state, while other contenders have thus far relied more on quick meet-and-greets and scripted speeches.

"It's not only the amount of events he does, but it's the nature of events he does, which are demanding," Merrill said. "He's doing that and no one else is doing it. I think it's a testament not only to his character but his stamina. It's Vince Lombardi football -- three-and-a-half yards in a cloud of dust -- and that's what he's doing up here and will continue to do."

Scott Conroy is RealClearPolitics national political reporter and CBS News contributor.

[Progress4USA]

PASS THIS BILL!!!!!!

[lucifersshadow]

Just like when Bush became president, in the end, it is the media and money that determines who gets elected. The media gives more airtime to the candidate they favor, and the brainwashed herd of rats follows along, not realizing in the end that they have been duped into voting for the candidate the media chose, rather than the other way around.

[TheThirdVial]

Now, my next comment. CBS, GIVE IT UP!! Romney is NOT the choice of most Republicans and polls show it.
Yet you MSM keep pushing Romney.
Sorry, but LIBERAL, Left leaning, socialists are NOT going to pick our GOP Candidate for us. WE, the GOP will!

[omded]

Be careful about that. If you want Perry, you might be standing on thin ice after the primaries are over. If you want to replace the current Administration, you'd best give a good close look at Mit Romney. In the general election, he's got the best chance of beating Obama.

Perry has a lot of weak points which Obama will capitalize on - not the least of which is he reminds people of G.W. Bush. On the other hand, with Romney being more to the middle, Obama can't as easily criticize him without criticizing himself as well. Nominating Romney will take a lot of ammunition out of Obama's "guns". Nominating Perry will leave Obama's "guns" cocked and loaded.

[TheThirdVial]

Ms_enza the only LOSER in the 2012 elections is Obama, he is a LOSER, whether he wins or not. He is a traitorous loser.
Mitt Romney has no chance to beat Obama, and that is why the left-leaning liberal MSM, and you other liberals keep telling us he's the only one who can. WRONG!
And who said I was for Perry? (And no, Ron Paul is a joke).
You don't know who or who I don't support, don't try and tell me who I'm for. I'm not a liberal, I can think for myself. I don't need the MSM or others telling me what I should think, eat, wear, read, watch on TV/movies, what car I should drive etc.
I can think all for myself, Thank You.
To bad you liberals need someone to tell you what YOU think!

[TheThirdVial]

Yup, if it wasn't for them liberals and Unions, this country would be a third world country. I sure they contributed a lot to the Revolutionary War, oh, forgot, no Unions or many liberals.
Ok, I'll try again, Seeing as the Unions and liberals never really attained anything until FDR, how do you explain the GREATNESS of this country prior to the Nanny Socialist State?
It is the result of this socialism (which is LIBERALISM, or sorry, now it's called "Progressive", sounds nicer) that we have debt in the TRILLIONS of dollars, why we have some of the most restrictive corporate taxes in the world.
It is the Liberals who came up with the bright idea that education wasn't working in America, even though we were pretty much #1 in everything scholastic, and came up with the Dept. of Education, and our number is now around #56 worldwide.
Yup, some real good ideas there. And that is where liberals stand, the result of the own folly, an education that only teaches the bare minimum and nothing about PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND FREEDOM, what this country was founded on, made it great.
Until Marxist/socialist/Democrat/Liberal/Progressive/Cry Baby Take Care of Me, I to Lazy and Stupid to Take Care of Myself dolts messed everything up.

[omded]

The "Tea Party" has a lot of good points to make. Their message is good and makes sense. So why do the "Tea Partiers" have to gravitate to people like Perry and Palin?

Michele Bachmann is actually starting to grow on me. She's announced her candidacy up front, and has subjected herself to all of the hard hitting debates and media scrutiny. I also like the way she stood up to Perry regarding the young girls of Texas who were forced to get HPV immunizations. Good for her! She's forcing Perry to explain himself, which he just can't do. But I don't think she's quite ready to be a President. With that said, she does have my respect, admiration, and appreciation, and, I hope she will try again in future elections.

As for Perry and Palin, they both come across as cheap and sleazy sales people. Palin opens her mouth and speaks, but says absolutely nothing. Perry swaggers around trying to put on his "average good old guy" act, and just makes himself look untrustworthy.

Of all the GOP candidates, I'd say Romney has the most Presidential appearance, both in his message, demeanor and stage presence.

Perry and Palin are making Republicans look like gullible fools.

I say the 2012 GOP ticket should be Romney-Bachmann. That's a ticket I could actually vote for.