Politics

Romney says hello to Tampa

A restaurant is packed with 300 people wanting to meet the candidate.

By ADAM C. SMITH, Times Political Editor
Published August 7, 2007

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney greets supporters at La Teresita Restaurant. Watch the video.
	[Chris Zuppa | Times]

TAMPA - Joy Sparkman likes Rudy Giuliani but came to West Tampa on Monday night to learn more about the other Republican presidential contender piquing her interest.

"I need to know more about Mitt Romney," the Sun City Center real estate agent said. "What I've heard so far I like very much."

Mrs. Sparkman was hardly alone among the 300 or so people packed into La Teresita restaurant's overheated banquet hall. The crowd included loads of undecided Republicans who came to get a better sense of the former Massachusetts governor running strong in states like Iowa and New Hampshire but not yet gaining much steam in Florida.

Who did they meet Monday in Tampa? A polished and self-effacing businessman who called his wife of 38 years "sweetie," who said nothing controversial or unconventional, who criticized only his Democratic presidential rivals, and who touted his private sector experience as the best prescription for Washington.

The son of a former American Motors Corp. chairman noted how businesses continually improve their products and services to survive the free market.

"I'm convinced that if we've ever needed a product to get better and see change in Washington, it's now. The challenges we're facing are so extraordinary that more of the same just won't work for us," Romney said before taking a half-dozen questions in a town hall-style meeting.

Romney said he stands by the Bush administration's current efforts in Iraq; he's skeptical about replacing the income tax system with a national sales tax; he likes private savings accounts to help shore up Social Security; and he's a firm supporter of Israel. In other words, he said nothing in Tampa on Monday that set him apart from the other leading Republicans.

The 60-year-old millionaire former venture capital executive scoffed at Barack Obama's and John Edward's recent comments on foreign policy and at Hillary Clinton's calls for "shared responsibility" in society.

"So it's out with economist Adam Smith and in with Karl Marx," he said of Sen. Clinton.

Romney has been building a formidable political organization in Florida, as evidenced by the host of prominent Tampa Bay supporters flanking him at La Teresita. Among them: Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, State Rep. Trey Traviesa of Tampa and St. Petersburg developer Brent Sembler.

Florida is scheduled to hold the first mega state presidential primary on Jan. 29. But Romney's Florida organization has yet to translate into grass roots support, as most Florida polls show him with single digit support in Florida and well behind Giuliani and likely presidential candidate Fred Thompson.

"I'm not terribly well known yet in Florida. That will change. I wasn't very well known six months ago in Iowa and New Hampshire. ... Now I'm No. 1 in Iowa and New Hampshire," Romney said at the end of his 12th Florida visit of the campaign. "I expect to rise in the polls here."

Adam C. Smith can be reached at (727)893-8241 or asmith@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 6, 2007, 23:12:26]