Mitt Romney 2012 Campaign For President Launches

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney declared his candidacy for president of United States on Thursday.

The Republican hopeful made the announcement in the key early primary state of New Hampshire, the same battleground featured in a web video he released earlier this year in launching his presidential exploratory committee.

Romney's pitch was tailored to the conservatives who hold great sway in picking the GOP's presidential nominee in Iowa and South Carolina — and the independents who are the largest political bloc in New Hampshire. And it was as much a thesis on his viability as it was an indictment of Obama's leadership.

"A few years ago, Americans did something that was, actually, very much the sort of thing Americans like to do: We gave someone new a chance to lead, someone we hadn't known for very long, who didn't have much of a record but promised to lead us to a better place," Romney said, describing the man he hopes to meet head-to-head in November 2012. "At the time, we didn't know what sort of a president he would make. ... Now, in the third year of his four-year term, we have more than promises and slogans to go by. Barack Obama has failed America."

The Granite State will be crucial for Romney's strategy in 2012. He came in second place in New Hampshire during his 2008 bid and has invested heavily in the state since.

Romney has built an experienced political team, collected serious campaign cash and crafted a campaign that is ready to go full-bore. While his likely opponents have jostled for the spotlight, Romney largely has worked in private to fine-tune his political machine. He has chosen to weigh in through statements and editorial pages instead of interviews with journalists or town hall-style meetings with voters.

On Friday, Romney starts to shift that strategy. He has scheduled his first town hall meeting for Manchester and later planned to speak at a Faith and Freedom forum in Washington.

Party leaders have yet to rally around him. Romney hopes his tough talk will inspire support.

HuffPost's Jon Ward recently reported:

A top goal of the nation’s most influential national Tea Party group is to stop Mitt Romney from winning the Republican nomination for president.

Interviews with top officials at FreedomWorks, a Washington-based organizing hub for Tea Party activists around the country, revealed that much of their thinking about the 2012 election revolves around derailing the former Massachusetts governor.

“Romney has a record and we don’t really like it that much,” said Adam Brandon, the group’s communications director.

Romney comes to a presidential contest that lacks a front-runner. In the past week, the still-forming field became less certain with hints that Texas Gov. Rick Perry was considering a bid. Tea party darling Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is inching toward a run, perhaps giving the anti-tax, libertarian-leaning grassroots movement a candidate to rally around.

Romney sought to claim a slice of that constituency when describing families struggling to get by.

"It doesn't matter if they are Republican or Democrat, independent or libertarian," Romney said. "They're just Americans ... an American family."

mitt romney

Mitt Romney

Republican Mitt Romney, who was putting up a brave front to Senator John McCain's performance in the primaries, has finally decided to suspend his presidential campaign. The reason, he said, was that he did not want the democrats to win.

According to Romney, his decision to quit arose from noble sentiments. The former Massachusetts governor expressed concern that his continuing campaign could prevent a national campaign, and make it easier for Democrats Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama to win. "In this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror," he said, adding, "This is not an easy decision. I hate to lose."

Of late, McCain's nomination has seemed a very likely eventuality. At the Super Tuesday contests, Romney had scored a dismal 286 delegates, as compared to McCain's score of 697 delegates. Now, with Romney out of his way, the senior senator's position as the GOP nominee for president seems almost a matter of time.

Speaking at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, in Washington, where he announced his decision, Romney said, "If this were only about me, I'd go on. But it's never been only about me. I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, in this time of war I feel I have to now stand aside for our party and for our country."

Romney said he disagreed with McCain on many key issues. However, he said, "But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and I agree with him on eliminating al Qaeda and terror worldwide." According to a McCain aide, McCain called up Romney to say that he admired him and thought that he was a tough competitor.

Romney, who served a term as the governor of Massachusetts, decided to enter the race for president in 2007. The former investment banker ran his campaign on the strength of his perceived financial expertise. However, his candidature suffered from his frequent flip flops on issues such as abortion. Besides, his Mormon faith also drew considerable amount of attention.

Romney, who had funded a large part of his campaign from his personal resources, had come first in the Super Tuesday contests, from Alaska, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Utah. He also won from Maine, Michigan, Nevada, and Wyoming in the early voting contests. Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses, seemed to be Romney's most potential rival for the party's conservative vote. He won Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, and West Virginia in the Super Tuesday contests.