Casually dressed in a blue button down shirt and navy pants, Craig Romney looks like he could easily pass for a Fairfield student. He was even dying to get home to watch his TiVo’d Red Sox game. Fast forward to a year from now, and he quite possibly could be the son of our future president.
Romney, son of Mitt Romney who is running for the presidency, gave a presentation sponsored by the Fairfield College Republicans on Wednesday night to about 25 students. He discussed his father’s political history, his own personal life and the campaign efforts his family is making.
“I’m not too far removed from being in your situation,” Romney said. “I never imagined that I would be in this situation. It’s all very surreal, and I’m still kind of getting used to it all. I try and be sincere.”
The presentation began with a video on Mitt Romney’s contributions during his term as governor of Massachusetts from 2002 to 2006. When he began his term, the state had a billion dollar budget deficit and he was able to boost the economy without raising taxes. Mitt Romney also proposed and signed into law a private, market-based reform that ensured that every Massachusetts citizen would have health insurance.
Romney highlighted his father’s role in turning around the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, UT.
The 2002 games were mired in controversy and facing a financial crisis. Mitt Romney was offered a position as president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee because of his history of turning around businesses.
People in America had lost faith in the spirit of the games, but Romney worked to inspire Americans as well as to re-sign Olympic sponsors who had hesitated to be associated with the games.
Mitt Romney’s top campaign platforms include strengthening family values, the economy and the military, to the politician’s son said.
Romney also spoke about his family’s Mormon faith, which has been a recent topic in the media. A recent Newsweek cover featured Mitt Romney and read “A Mormon’s Journey: The Making of Mitt Romney.”
“I think he’s been on the cover of a major magazine twice, and I think it’s unfortunate that both times it’s been that he’s Mormon.
“My father is not running on his religion,” Romney said. “It’s something the press loves to talk about but when you meet people on the road who are interested in the campaign, very few times do you hear that question [about faith] raised.”
Romney and his four brothers have been traveling across the country in the “Mitt Mobile,” a Winnebago they purchased on eBay that has been converted to a fully furbished campaign bus, complete with a Mitt Romney bobblehead on the dashboard.
When not campaigning with his father and family, Romney said he takes time out from his job to work as a freelance movie producer in New York City, where he lives with his wife and son.
Megan Griffin ’09, secretary of College Republicans, said she is excited that Mitt Romney’s campaign is making such a large effort to reach out to college students. Griffin has campaigned before for the Mitt Romney gubernatorial campaign in her hometown of North Andover, Mass.
Romney spoke about Students for Mitt, a group that helps high school and college students raise funds for the campaign by offering 10 percent of their money back if they raise over $1,000.
The group was started in February by Romney and his wife, Mary Romney.
“Outreach to college students has always been very helpful on the grassroots level, but this is a program that enables students to help on the fund-raising and political level,” Romney said. “It enables students like yourself to play a powerful role in the outcome of this campaign.”
Recently, The Mirror ran a story on political apathy among students. But Romney said that the students he has met have been closely following the presidential candidates.
“What I’ve seen, actually is a very invigorating and excited population about his [Mitt’s] presidential campaign on the college student level,” said Romney.
“I’m not sure if it’s across the board; there may be some general apathy out there, but luckily the students I’ve met are excited about the campaign and are making a huge difference,” he said.
Members of the Fairfield College Republicans hope that events like Romney’s speech will spark student interest to follow politics more closely.
“People should care more about politics and not necessarily because they support a certain side but because decisions will affect them,” said Karla Carpenter ’09, president of College Republicans. “A lot of people say they’re not interested in politics because it doesn’t affect them, but in reality we’re the ones who can change things.”
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