Mitt Romney to Give Keynote Address at New Hampshire Republican State Convention

Mitt Romney will deliver the keynote address at New Hampshire’s upcoming state convention. There is no mistaking the high regard New Hampshire’s GOP has for Governor Romney:

From UnionLeader.com (John Distaso):

MITT RETURNS. After donating thousands to the state Republican Party and some of its candidates, Mitt Romney has been named the keynote speaker at the party’s convention, slated for Sept. 25 at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord.

State Republican Chair John H. Sununu says the party is “thrilled” to have Romney as the convention speaker
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“Governor Romney has been a strong supporter of the New Hampshire Republican Party and we are extremely appreciative of all the assistance he has given us through this critical election cycle,” Sununu said.

Romney hosted a high-dollar fund-raiser for the state GOP at the Taj Hotel in Boston last Thursday. He also hosted fund-raisers for the Republican House PAC in Manchester and for the state party in Tuftonboro on Aug. 12. He’s donated $30,000 to the state party so far in the cycle, $1,000 to District 3 Executive Council candidate Chris Sununu and $7,500 to other local and state special election candidates.

Romney during 'No Apology' book tour New Hampshire

FoxNews.com (Jake Gibson) reported this yesterday:

Romney has been a regular in New Hampshire political circles lately and also donated $30,000 to the state party so far in this election cycle. Mitt visited the Granite State during his book tour last spring and has hosted a number of fundraisers recently. Last Thursday, Romney was in Boston at a fundraiser for the New Hampshire GOP, he has also hosted fundraisers for the Republican House PAC in Manchester on August 5th and another for the state party in Tuftonboro on August 12th.

(links added)

Gibson then commented on Romney’s absence from this year’s Iowa State Fair:

For as visible as Romney has been in New Hampshire he has been noticeably absent lately in Iowa, the other all-important early state in presidential politics. Romney did travel through the Hawkeye State during his book tour last spring, but fellow potential GOP 2012 candidates Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich visited the Iowa State Fair recently. The Iowa State Fair is a traditional cattle call for presidential hopefuls, but there was no return to the home of pork chops on a stick and fried Oreo cookies for Romney this year.

Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney’s spokesman, explained to Politico’s Ben Smith why the Governor didn’t stop by Iowa’s State Fair this year:

“He was spending August with his family on vacation,” Eric Fehrnstrom replies, indicating that Romney meant no slight to the Hawkeye State. “He was in Iowa in March on his book tour, and he will return to Iowa in the fall to campaign with Terry Branstad.”

Good enough. Iowa isn’t off the radar – but, for now, Romney is clearly in demand in New Hampshire. Besides working on his keynote speech for their state convention, he’ll also be composing a speech for the annual New Hampshire Seacoast Republican Women Chili Fest where he will be their featured speaker.  

► Jayde Wyatt