Romney upbeat despite poll ranking as GOP underdog
Still undaunted while struggling to catch McCain
ATLANTA - He won the heart of the prettiest girl at a high school party, breezed through Harvard's business and law schools, and made a fortune in a high-flying business career that vaulted him on to the Olympics and the Massachusetts governor's office.
But today Mitt Romney, who likes to say that everything he touches turns into a success, is facing the jarring prospect of a loss in a Republican presidential race to which he devoted two years of his life and at least $35 million of his fortune.
Polls show him trailing Senator John McCain in many of the 21 states that vote and could seal his fate. Yesterday, he tried his best to remain sunny while embracing his new worldview: that of the little guy, the No. 2 written off by the pundits and wise guys.
"I'm definitely the underdog compared to Senator McCain," Romney told reporters at the Georgia Tech Hotel & Conference Center in Atlanta. "He's the front-runner in the race. A number of folks have proclaimed that, but the nice thing about being the underdog is that we typically win."
Even as Romney promised that he would win today and "hand the liberals in our party a little surprise," he said he wished that he had a few more days to campaign. Perhaps if the election were held on Friday, he said, he could really communicate his message that he, not McCain, is the country's conservative champion.
"I think everybody who's an underdog would say, 'I wish I had more time,' " Romney said. Still, he insisted, "You can see I'm building, my campaign is building."
Former senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who has become Romney's traveling buddy, described Romney as a rebel, fighting the powerful in the Republican Party. Never mind that Romney campaigned this week with establishment figures such as former House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
Santorum urged voters to back Romney and send a message to "the bigwigs who are lining up like lemmings behind the nominee."
"If they want to show the bigwigs in Washington who is in charge of this party, it's the conservative heartland that is in charge of this party, then you only have one choice, one choice: not Mike Huckabee, not Ron Paul, certainly not John McCain. It's Mitt Romney," Santorum said at the Pancake
To be sure, Romney has been an underdog, in his unsuccessful 1994 run for US Senate and his winning 2002 run for governor.
And he is trying mightily to keep his campaign alive. Besides Nashville and Atlanta, he made stops yesterday in Oklahoma City and Long Beach, Calif. Romney sees California, which is the biggest prize today with 170 delegates and where he is close to McCain in the polls, as the key to stopping McCain from getting a stranglehold on the nomination.
Today, Romney is to campaign in West Virginia and then return home to cast his ballot at Belmont Town Hall. His five sons and wife, Ann, who have been campaigning across the country, will meet him to watch the returns at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.
But is he nervous? No way.
"We're going back home," Romney said in Atlanta. "We're going to count some votes, and then we'll celebrate."
Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com. 