Josh, that is. The third and middle son of Mitt Romney, who got a rep for being funny and relaxed (surfing his Dad's campaign signs down the aisles of jet planes, for example), is thinking about running for Congress.
Photo Source: Brett Danley via Creative Commons
At Matt Romney's house in San Diego, brother Josh and their families are enjoying a last visit together before settling down to normal life.
As their Dad pulls out of the race today, Sparrow is sad to say goodbye to Josh, Matt, Tagg, Craig, and Ben. No matter what your politics, you have to admit that they're funny, smart, and great role models as sons, fathers, and husbands. We'll miss their blog, too. Blessings to you, Five Brothers!
Here's the word from their Papá:
"This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters... many of you right here in this room... have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming President. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country."
This long, exhausting campaign's getting stranger by the minute.
According to Peter Nicholas, Seema Mehta and Maeve Reston of the Los Angeles Times, Josh Romney's taken to surfing his dad's campaign signs down the aisles of jet planes.
Bridget McCain's Mom misses her, the dogs, and hiking so badly she's taking a day off and heading back to Arizona.
Hilary Clinton's addicted to big mugs of tea, Janet Huckabee's starting to rap, and Ann Romney's hugging Michelle Obama every time they see each other.
And it's not just the candidates and their families who are getting loopy; the journalists covering them can't see straight either. Think of the money Starbucks is making on double-shot ventis sold to these sleep-deprived people, and it's only February.
Happy Super Tuesday, America!
The Talk of the Town was about the five brothers blog, with the New Yorker describing the Romney brothers' virtual campaign for their dad as "a public extension of the five-man e-mail distribution list through which they have long kept in touch."
The article sums up a few of the brothers' jokes, and actually gives them a compliment:
"Corny pranks aside, the Romney boys can be genuinely funny. “Here I am on the Extra Terrestrial Highway,” Josh writes home, from Nevada. “I think we saw Dennis Kucinich driving the other direction.”Sadly, none of the five bros came to a Wellesley Booksmith book launch party for the second novel featuring me (book teaser in sidebar), although they were invited, along with Cate Edwards.
Cate's probably still recuperating from the end of her Dad's campaign, but the good news is that she still has a chance to be a Veep Kid. Number One Observatory Circle, the house she'd get to visit on vacations, might not compare to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but it's still sweet.It's helpful when there's only one Mitt and 24 primaries on Super Tuesday. That's why Josh is racing up to Alaska, Tagg's riding to Maine, and Matt's running over to Montana. The Romney Brothers, coming soon to a primary near you.
Several of the five Romney brothers slaved in the state for their Dad, only to see him lose. I wonder how it feels to be doubly disappointed -- as a full-time campaign worker and as a son. Meanwhile, Doug, Andy, Sidney, Jack, Jimmy, Meghan, and Bridget are partying tonight.
Matt tries to lighten things up for his father with a fake phone call from the Governor of California:
Thanks to a two-year mission stint in Santiago, Chile, the youngest Romney brother's accent is pretty darn good, if you ask me, and I lived in Mexico for three years.
The commercial ends with something like this: "Above all, Mitt Romney's a family man. How do I know? Because he's my papa."
Bruce Reed of Slate can make fun of the Romney brothers all he wants, but the fact is that Tagg, Craig, Ben, Josh, and Matt love and respect their dad and are fighting hard for his campaign. That's impressive in this day and age, even if you disagree with his politics. You could take away his money and power, and the Governor would still be rich.
During the back-to-back Republican and Democrats debates on ABC tonight, the cameras found Meghan, Cate, and Chelsea, but where was Miss Sarah Huckabee? Not to mention Tagg, Josh, Ben, Craig, or Matt?
Presenting the Amazing Romney Turkey Bowl:
My question is: where are the girls in the family? Are they off baking pumpkin pies or something? I LOVE flag football!
The resemblance between the chip and the block is freaky, check it out.
Tagg Romney acknowledges Meghan McCain's blogospheric presence and better fashion sense on the Five Brothers' Blog. We want a post from Bridget!
Jill Lawrence of USA Today notices that some adult kids of candidates are campaigning like crazy (Meghan, Sara, Tagg and Bros) while others (Chelsea, Andrew, Hunter) are keeping a low profile.
When it comes to rival candidates attacking your parent, you can either (1) flinch and retreat, (2) fight back and get nasty, or (3) see it as a sign of success and brag about it. Matt Romney chooses Number Three in this blog post, rejoicing that his Republican Papa was the Democrats' primo target during the CNN/YouTube Debate.
Note: I'd comment on Matt's post, but I'm worried I'm no longer welcome at the Five Brothers' blog after Slate Magazine tried to use me to malign Tagg. I think I'll wait a bit.
USA Today reports that Sarah Huckabee has "exchanged knowing quips" with the Romney brothers about campaigning. She's got something in common with me, too -- empathy for any first kid wannabe whose parent gets a dose of major media abuse:
"When their dad is getting beaten up," she said, "your heart just goes out to them. You understand you are in a place no one else is."
The people at Slate figure I'm some kind of Romney-aholic. Maybe they should browse through more of my posts -- they might discover that this purple-ish blog's mission is to dish on all the candidates' kids (and hopefully get teens engaged in the campaign). Mrs. Edwards figured that out when she commented here. I do like reading the Five Brothers' blog -- I've been open about who I am on and off-list because the Romney family has a great sense of humor. And, yes, I'm figuring a Romney-Rice vs. Obama-Clinton race in '08 would bring out lots of voters, and then we get to show off our country's democracy to the rest of the planet.
We haven't had any First Sons in a while -- the last ones were our President and his brothers Jeb, Neil, and Marvin -- but nobody's working harder for Dad than the Five Romney Hunks. (Here's more on the Romney family, much, much more, in today's Boston Globe.) The brothers recently released a video featuring the conversation when their family decided that Dad would run for President. It's long, so fast-forward to the end to get a peek into oldest brother Tagg's soft heart.
(Hey, Slate readers, welcome to Sparrowblog. Here's my rebuttal!)
Over at the fabulous Five Brothers' Blog where they let you comment freely and wildly, oldest brother Tagg asks for reading suggestions during an upcoming four-week trip campaigning for his Dad. I, of course, offered the book featuring MOI, which released yesterday. Hey, let's blitz the site with recommendations for First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover, okay? It's your turn. Scat. Go. Head over there right now. See ya' tomorrow.
(Hey, Slate readers, welcome to Sparrowblog. Here's my rebuttal!)
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