Romney faces a reckoning on '08

With just seven weeks left in office, Governor Mitt Romney is bringing together his advisers and leading supporters for a postelection powwow this weekend as he nears the most important decision of his political career.

Romney, widely expected to launch a 2008 presidential bid in coming weeks, is convening the meetings at an undisclosed location. Aides to his Commonwealth Political Action Committee refused to say who is attending or how big a gathering it is.

"What I can say is it's an effort to thank those who have been supporters of the Commonwealth PAC over the last year," said PAC spokesman Jared Young.

The retreat had been planned for Sea Island, Ga., a posh resort where President Bush hosted world leaders at a 2004 G-8 summit. But Young said the location was changed weeks ago for "logistical reasons." He declined to elaborate.

Romney, who has for months deflected questions about his presidential ambitions, is huddling with advisers and donors just as the field of GOP presidential hopefuls begins to come into sharper focus, with potential rivals such as Senator John McCain of Arizona and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani already forming presidential exploratory committees. Romney's meetings this weekend are certain to touch on his plans for 2008 and how and when to make them known.

"He's keeping his options open," Young said, adding that it "probably will be sometime after the first of the year that he would make a decision one way or another."

But veteran Republican strategist Charlie Black said that with McCain and Giuliani already busy raising money through their exploratory operations, Romney would be wise to jump in soon.

"The only important thing about timing is money," said Black, who has worked on presidential campaigns for Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and President Bush. "If I were him, I wouldn't waste any time in forming some type of committee that I could raise money with."

One top Romney supporter who plans to attend this weekend's gathering is Florida money manager Lee Munder, who, with his wife, Laura, has given at least $90,000 to the Commonwealth PAC and its state affiliates. Munder said that he didn't know what the weekend agenda was, but that he looked forward to any opportunity to meet with Romney, whom he said he has known for years.

"I think there's a lot of us who feel that people like Mitt would, with his experience and background, be a great asset to our country," Munder said. "If he chooses to move in almost any direction, I think there's a group of us who know him well who would support him."

Though Romney has been publicly coy about his 2008 plans, his recent actions suggest he's intent on mounting a serious run. He has wooed Republican donors, sought guidance from prominent evangelical leaders, met with lobbyists in Washington, D.C., and snatched up well-known GOP advisers and consultants.

One major GOP fund-raiser said Romney has been aggressively courting President Bush's "rangers" and "pioneers," top fund-raisers for the president's campaigns who brought in tens of thousands of dollars.

"I can't tell you the number of people who have called me and said, 'Mitt's called me,' " said the fund-raiser, who did not want to be identified talking about potential 2008 candidates. "The donors haven't been courted for eight years, so they're going to want to be courted."

The fund-raiser added that McCain, too, has been very aggressive in raising money.

The Commonwealth PAC, whose stated objective is to support Republican candidates around the country, says it raised $8.8 million and gave away $1.3 million to candidates and party organizations in the just-completed two-year election cycle.

Romney will continue to travel in the coming weeks, according to Young, the PAC spokesman. The trips include one to a fund-raiser in Mississippi and another for the annual conference in Miami of the Republican Governors Association, which Romney chairs.

Last week's elections were not kind to Republicans, and Romney, who stumped for many gubernatorial candidates on the association's behalf, saw many of them lose. .

But there were silver linings for Romney in the midterm elections. The most obvious was the surprise loss of Senator George Allen, Republican of Virginia, who had been considered a leading 2008 presidential contender until a series of missteps over the summer.

Scott Helman can be reached at shelman@globe.com.