George Romney

BOSTON - As he gave his acceptance address at the Republican National Convention last week, Mitt Romney for the first time gave America an intimate look at the role that his Mormon faith has played in his life and how his work in the church as a pastor helped shape him. When Romney and his wife, Ann, attended church Sunday in Wolfeboro, N.H., his close friend J.W. Marriott (who is known as “Bill”) offered a bookend to that discussion - testifying during the service about how the spotlight on Romney this week had cast the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a positive light and had drawn welcome attention to good works of the church.

. -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney worked his way through a sprawling tailgate party at the annual Michigan-Michigan State college football game last month trying to forge his political future one handshake at a time. But he kept encountering the past. "Your father did great things for this state," one man told Romney before slipping off into the buoyant, milling crowd outside MSU's Spartan Stadium.

Mitt Romney kept the pressure on rival Rick Santorum as he campaigned across Michigan Saturday, telling audiences that the former Pennsylvania Senator could not be relied on to stand for conservative principles. Speaking from notes at a gathering of Americans for Prosperity, a group affiliated with the "tea party," hours after Santorum delivered a blistering critique of his record, Romney focused on outlining his credentials as a conservative before the group, which met him with a polite but mild reception.

In the 16 months that he has been running for president, the thrust of Mitt Romney's policy toward Afghanistan has been this: He would hew to President Obama's timeline to withdraw U.S. troops by the end of 2014, but he would part ways with the president by giving greater deference to the judgment of military commanders. Beyond that, Romney has revealed little about what his guiding principles would be for committing U.S. troops in conflicts around the world or what elements have shaped his thinking about Afghanistan -- subjects likely to be broached in Monday's foreign policy debate.

Re "Romney low-key on civil rights," July 8 Besides reminding me that I have been following politics for way too long, your front-page story about George Romney reminded me of an admirable, moderate Republican candidate for president whom I would support today and would have supported then if I hadn't been too young to vote in 1968. The contrasts with his son Mitt - in conviction and action - are striking. Having been successful in business, governor of a very progressive state and having somehow secured the nomination of today's Republican Party, Mitt Romney should be perfectly positioned to use these foundations to lead with the convictions and daring ideas that might bridge our current partisan gaps (like his father)

On the same day that General Motors reported record profits, Mitt Romney stumped in Michigan, reiterating his opposition to the federal government bailout that many credit with saving GM and Chrysler. Romney told the Detroit News' editorial board Thursday that rather than the federal government lending the two companies $80 billion, GM and Chrysler should have entered bankruptcy six months earlier and the federal government should have offered loan guarantees. "I would have never allowed the auto industry to disappear," Romney told the paper.

I was stationed at Ft. Bliss, Texas, in 1968 for a year at an Army language school learning Vietnamese. During the breaks in the endless memorization of the endless monosyllabic vocabulary, we would escape over the border to Juarez, Mexico, or out into the wasteland of west Texas to reclaim a bit of sanity. I met a family through a church group that invited me to their ranch on weekends. And I still bless them for their thoughtfulness. The grand dame of the family was a wonderful Texas horsewoman who always needed work done around the place.

Under fire from his GOP rivals, Mitt Romney on Thursday pledged to eventually release his tax returns, but suggested they would be made public only after he had secured the presidential nomination. "I'll release my returns in April, and probably for other years as well,” Romney said at the Republican debate in South Carolina, adding that he would do so if he were the nominee. He swiftly tried to pivot off the issue to President Obama, whom he accused of playing "90 rounds of golf" while doing little to cure the nation's economic woes.

Mitt Romney has regained the lead in Arizona but is locked in a tie with rival Rick Santorum as primary day looms less than a week away, according to a pair of new polls released Wednesday. The polls suggest Romney's message is resonating with more pragmatic voters who are focused on finding a candidate who can beat President Obama in a general election.   An NBC/Marist poll of likely Republican primary voters in Arizona shows Romney leading the pack with 43%, a 16 percentage point lead over Santorum, who has 27%.  Newt Gingrich ranks third with 16%, followed by Ron Paul with 11%. The race appears to be tighter in Michigan, according to an NBC/Marist poll of likely Republican primary voters there.

The White House on Tuesday needled GOP front-runner Mitt Romney on releasing his tax returns, noting that it was the former Massachusetts governor's father who set the precedent for such personal financial disclosure on the part of presidential hopefuls decades ago. At his daily televised briefing, White House spokesman Jay Carney was asked about Romney's hedging response to debate questions Monday night on the issue, and he had a ready answer....