WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who had a limited national profile just a few years ago, is matching the better-known Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) step-for-step in the race to round up support from an important audience: members of Congress and Washington lobbyists.
Call it the "insider primary."
Today, as Romney formally launches his bid for the White House with a speech in Michigan, what might have been a longshot campaign can boast that many influential GOP lawmakers and lobbyists have judged him best able to go the distance.
More members of Congress have announced support for Romney than for McCain: 26, including former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).
And though some Washington hands backing Romney are not household names, they include luminaries of key Republican constituencies, such as former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.), revered by economic conservatives and antiabortion activists; Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho), his chamber's standard bearer for gun-rights advocates; and John J. Castellani, a Beltway lobbying powerhouse with ties to the top echelons of American business.
The support of these insiders has positioned Romney to raise money and build a campaign organization in the early-voting primary states. It says much about the problems facing McCain, who despite a national profile is finding challenges in building the impression that his victory in the GOP primary is inevitable.
Where Romney is a relative newcomer to national politics after one term as Massachusetts governor, McCain is a 20-year Senate veteran and war hero already tested in a presidential campaign. But McCain's style and frequent departures from party orthodoxy, on such issues as campaign finance and tax cuts, have alienated many party colleagues in Congress.
"He's hurt himself with the Republican rank and file," said Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who is leaning toward supporting Romney and who invited the former governor to speak to a group of House Republicans in January. Many times, "McCain is the spoiler on legislation. House members have gotten tired of it over the last six years."
Polls show that Romney is running a distant third among GOP presidential hopefuls, behind McCain and former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, and that the vast majority of Americans do not know enough about him to form an opinion.
