Ann Romney's Web Site Launches
With the launch of AnnRomney.com, Mitt Romney's presidential campaign is once more putting the spotlight on the former Massachusetts governor's family.
If, as a lot of folks like to say, Mitt "looks presidential," the case could also be made that his wife Ann looks and acts like a First Lady. The Romney campaign certainly seems to view her that way, and it treats her as one of its greatest assets.
The campaign bills the new Web site as the "premier location for information about Ann and her family, including her biography, struggle with multiple sclerosis and the issues most important to her." There's even a section called "Ann's Recipes"—so far, Welsh skillet cakes are the only items on the menu.
Mitt never misses an opportunity to talk about Ann on the trail, and his stories seem designed to produce a warm and fuzzy reaction from pro-family audiences.
He tells and retells the tale of how they met when she was just fifteen. He raves about the granola she makes for his breakfasts and laments that the only times he becomes weary on the stump are when he's been away from her for too long.
Ann's relatively warm and calming presence could help her husband overcome criticism that he is robotic and overly analytical. On a campaign stop in Iowa last month, Romney joked that Ann's positive media coverage had gone to her head.
"The only downside of this campaign is that they're writing about my wife and they're writing good things about her," he said. "I can't even live with her anymore!"
Though she says her chronic disease sometimes makes her tired, Ann has been actively stumping for her husband around the country. The Romney campaign hopes that her presence on the trail—as well as that of their five sons—will serve as a constant reminder to Republican primary voters that Mitt is a family man lacking the personal issues hanging over some of the other top-tier GOP candidates.