Romney aides set a meeting on future

With anticipation over his political future running high, Governor Mitt Romney's out-of-state political advisers are expected to assemble for strategy meetings in Boston Friday, sources close to Romney said yesterday.

The sources stressed that no firm date had been set for Romney's announcement of whether he will run for reelection. Aides had made tentative plans for an announcement on Monday, but it was in doubt because of changes in Romney's schedule, one source close to the governor said late yesterday.

The date has been pushed back several times, but the governor recently reiterated his intention to declare his plans before the start of winter, which begins next Wednesday, Dec. 21.

''He has given no indication he is going to change that timetable," Eric Fehrnstrom, his communications director, said yesterday.

By yesterday, he said, there were no specific plans being made.

''It's the governor's prerogative," Fehrnstrom said. ''You guys are free to speculate; I can't help you. The governor is focused on other matters. He is in a meeting now about the budget."

When it happens, the event will probably be a low-key affair, sources close to the governor speculate, before Romney leaves on Thursday, Dec. 22, for Utah, where he plans to spend Christmas at one of his vacation homes.

While Romney has said he has not made up his mind on another term, the consensus is that he will not run again and will instead continue to explore a campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

Romney has more than a year left in his term, which he has pledged to serve in full.

Among those scheduled to be in Boston Friday are Romney's California-based chief political adviser, Michael E. Murphy, and a veteran GOP operative, Philip A. Musser, Romney's new executive director at the Republican Governors Association.

Last week, Romney assumed the chairmanship of the organization, which next year will provide funds and other support for GOP gubernatorial candidates.

In recent days, Romney has stepped up his out-of-state travel. Last week, he was on the road four days; he canceled a fifth trip, to New York, because of Friday's storm. The other visits, all political, included events in Iowa and New Hampshire, early contest states in the nominating process.

The Romney decision will be made at a delicate time. He is wary that it could affect his ability to influence the current healthcare law changes being negotiated with legislators on Beacon Hill. With a compromise between competing House and Senate versions being debated in a conference committee, Romney has shown strong interest in the process.

He has held what his aides say are multiple meetings and conversations with the Democratic leadership. A healthcare bill would provide a high-profile accomplishment that he could tout in a presidential race.

Romney has also received advice from some advisers and legislative leaders to postpone his decision until at least January in order not to roil the partisan waters at the State House.

But Romney and his advisers have voiced conviction that a move now would not diminish his influence in the ongoing negotiations for sweeping healthcare law changes.

The governor's role in trying to shape the legislation is a marked departure from his usually aloof approach to working with the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate.

''I've spoken to the governor more times in the last three weeks than I have in the last two years," the Senate president, Robert E. Travaglini, told reporters last week after a speech to the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association.

''So, he may not physically be in the Commonwealth as much as people would like," Travaglini said, ''but the communications between the administration and my office -- and specifically between the governor and I -- are occurring more frequently now than ever."

Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, who is perceived as Romney's hand-picked successor, is operating behind the scenes to raise money, as well as to line up Republican activists.

Healey is also expected to face a challenge from a wealthy businessman and convenience-store magnate, Christy Mihos, a former member of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. Mihos said in an interview last week that he would indeed run for governor if Romney decides to bow out.