Southern audience delights in a visitor from North

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- They had seen the handsome governor from up North on Fox News and had read about his leadership of the Big Dig in local newspapers.

So when the ladies dressed in red welcomed Governor Mitt Romney to this Gulf Coast town yesterday, they had no interest in the handshakes Romney was offering. They went in for hugs.

``This is a friendly place, isn't it?" Romney said as he extricated himself from his first bear hug of the day.

``It's North meets South," said Janet Tudor, a retired teacher who helped organize the Jackson County Republican Women Annual Founders' Day luncheon.

The luncheon in Mississippi, featuring US Senator Trent Lott, capped a hectic 24-hour period in which Romney juggled the three hats he's wearing these days: governor, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, and budding presidential candidate. He is traveling to Iowa, Mississippi, and California on a four-day political tour launched Wednesday, shortly after he took formal control of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.

Appearing in Pascagoula, where Lott's name adorns the local airport and the middle school, Romney accepted a golden key to the city, belted out ``God Bless America" as part of a quartet that included Lott, and toured Hurricane Katrina damage, including a stop at the concrete slab where Lott's oceanfront house once stood.

Lott promptly returned the favor, telling reporters at a press conference that Romney is ``definitely in the top tier" of Republican presidential candidates, alongside Senator John McCain of Arizona and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. Joshing about his looks, Lott called the governor a ``real pretty one," but was serious about his prospects.

``He's got an excellent chance. Everything I have seen about him has always been impressive," Lott said. ``We may actually get to vote for somebody from Massachusetts before it's over."

The stop in Mississippi was purely presidential in nature. The event's organizers wanted to see the man who's generating the latest buzz among Republican activists. With pride, Lott pointed out that McCain and Giuliani have also found their way to southern Mississippi in the year since Katrina hit.

Before landing in Mississippi, Romney's charter plane took him Wednesday night to Dubuque, Iowa. He presented US Representative Jim Nussle, an Iowa Republican who is running for governor, with a $500,000 check from the governors association and helped him raise another $50,000 by headlining Nussle's annual barbecue.

Tonight, Romney is hosting a high-dollar fund-raiser for his political action committee at the exclusive St. Regis Resort in Dana Point, Calif., where donors must pony up $25,000 for a pair of seats at the head table. He's capping off the trip tomorrow in Los Angeles, with the keynote address at the California Republican Party's annual convention.

``It's a great nation," Romney told reporters yesterday when asked about his peripatetic schedule. ``You don't keep your option open [of running for president] by just staying home. You have to get to know people around the country."

A day earlier, Romney looked mildly out of place at the Masonic Temple near downtown Dubuque, where the Nussle fund-raiser was held. Romney posed for pictures near two giant moose heads, chatting with donors who gave Nussle $1,000 each for the privilege of a personal photo with the Massachusetts governor.

Then Romney camped out in front of the buffet line so he could meet all 200 guests as they prepared to pile chicken, pork, and green-bean casserole onto their plastic plates.

``That's a fabulous tie," Romney gushed to one guest. ``Mitt Romney, great to meet you," he greeted several others. When one local activist told him that other 2008 presidential contenders had already called her, Romney wheeled and issued directions to an aide.

``I need to find out how to reach this young lady," he said.

Romney received standing ovations before and after his speech. And he squeezed in a dig at one of his predecessors as governor, Michael S. Dukakis, who famously told a group of Iowans during his 1988 presidential bid that they should try growing Belgian endive.

``Mike Dukakis -- it's a name that I hesitate to let drip off my lips," Romney said. ``And the idea that he would come here and tell farmers what crops to grow it really quite extraordinary, a level of chutzpah you just can't get over."

The women who organized the event in Mississippi convened amid a more somber tone than they had in previous years. The first anniversary of Katrina is just a few weeks away, and cities like Pascagoula are still struggling to rebuild, their residents locked in battles with insurance companies.

Yet Romney was a vibrant presence. He delivered a patriotic stump speech, which features the refrain, ``There is something very special about America." He sprinkled in conservative applause lines about gay marriage, federal overspending, and supporting the war on terrorism, and did it all with a smile.

``We face some challenges, but I'm optimistic," Romney said. ``America will rise to the occasion. We always do."

Pattie Necaise, of Ocean Springs, Miss., who came to the luncheon, said she found it refreshing to hear a politician stay upbeat. ``There are a lot of very ugly things going on in politics, but he was positive," Necaise said. ``Down here, we appreciate that very much."

Lott beamed as he introduced Romney to the crowd, calling him an ``outstanding leader," a ``dynamic man," and a ``great governor."

``Some people might say, `the governor of Massachusetts?' Well, yes, and a great governor of Massachusetts," Lott said. ``They're not all Kennedys and Kerrys up there."

Rick Klein can be reached at rklein@globe.com.