President George Bush is not expected to win Massachusetts on November the 2nd. So why was the Massachusetts delegation and Governor Mitt Romney getting so much attention at the Republican National Convention?

     People think that Romney has a very bright Republican future ahead of him. If Bush wins, they think Romney may run for President in 2008. If John Kerry wins, they think Romney may run for the U. S. Senate, since Kerry’s Senate seat will be open.

     On August the 30th, the first night of the Convention, hundreds of people came to a New England Clambake honoring Gov. Romney and the Massachusetts delegation. The party was held on the U. S. S. Intrepid, a retired aircraft carrier that was made into a museum. In the museum there was a piece of American Airlines flight 11, the plane from Boston that was the first plane to hit the World Trade Center on 9/11.

     Not only Massachusetts people came to the party. There were Oregon people, Maine people, and two very loud Texans who thought the Governor would make a good vice president someday.

     It was a clambake only by name; anyone looking for clams was out of luck. There were no clams, but there were crab claws, among other New England foods.

Oregon State Republican Party chairman and delegation chairperson Kevin Mannix enjoyed the food, and loves military history. He was with a friend who served on aircraft carriers. Supposedly, the food at the party was better than on the aircraft carrier when he served.

     Romney told the party-goers that George Bush “...is a man of integrity and of great passion. He is a true leader, who knows the hopes and the dreams of the American people.”

The event was sponsored by MassMutual Financial, Liberty Mutual, Fidelity Investments and Raytheon, the company that created the Patriot missile that was used in the Persian Gulf War when President Bush’s father was Commander-in-chief.

     Companies sponsor parties at both Conventions because it helps give them publicity and helps them gain the trust of politicians.

     Because Romney is so popular among the Republicans, he attended many parties, luncheons, and breakfasts, and he was asked to speak at the Convention. Republicans were interested in hearing him; Congressman David Dreier of California said, “Let me tell you, he’s going to throw all of us some red meat.”

     At a luncheon before his Wednesday night speech, Romney seemed very nervous. “I saw the time slot and I thought that, well, maybe 10 percent of the audience will be listening,” he said. “The rest will be getting geared up for the big speeches by Zell Miller [a Democratic senator from Georgia who supports Bush] and by the vice president.”

“Don’t be expecting that, folks. I’m not up to that,” he told the Massachusetts delegation to cheer extra loud for him, because his speech wasn’t going to be as good as California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s.

     Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Kerry Healy said that even if people didn’t think he might run for senator or President, Romney still would have been asked to speak at the Convention. “He is a star in his own Party,” she said.

     Mitt Romney wrote his own jokes in his speech. “I don’t believe John Kerry is the leader our country needs,” he said in his Convention speech. “The nation can’t afford Presidential leadership that comes in 57 varieties!” making a joke about Sen. Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, and the Heinz Company.

     Mitt Romney is the son of George Romney, who was also governor of Michigan. George Romney ran for President in 1968.

Many say Mitt Romney was the hero of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. When Olympic Organizing Committee was falling apart, he took it over and became the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee.

     The morning after his speech, Romney spoke at a Michigan delegation breakfast. One interesting thing he said is that, “Teachers are great. We have the greatest teachers in the world. It’s the teachers’ union that’s getting in the way of educating our kids.”

     Although Mitt Romney thinks that it is “...not likely” that George Bush will win Massachusetts in November, he still believes that people in the state can help the campaign. “We can send dollars,” he said. “We’ve raised almost $6 million dollars for the President’s campaign in Massachusetts already.”

     “I told the President’s campaign, “Don’t spend it in Massachusetts,” he said. “Spend it in those battleground states where we need it.”