Mitt Romney presidential campaign, 2012
Encyclopedia
The Mitt Romney 2012 presidential campaign began informally shortly after the 2008 presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...

. Having campaigned for the Republican nomination in 2008
Mitt Romney presidential campaign, 2008
Mitt Romney was a Republican Party primary candidate in the 2008 United States presidential election. On January 3, 2007, two days before he stepped down as governor of Massachusetts, Romney filed to form a presidential exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission...

, the former Governor of Massachusetts
Governor of Massachusetts
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...

 was frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for the 2012 Republican Party nomination for U.S. president
Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2012
The 2012 Republican presidential primaries are the selection processes in which voters of the Republican Party will choose their nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 presidential election. The primary contest began with a fairly wide field, and is the first presidential primary...

.

Romney stopped short of a full-fledged candidacy until the beginning of 2011. Romney filed his organization with the Federal Elections Commission as an exploratory committee
Exploratory Committee
In the election politics of the United States, an exploratory committee is an organization established to help determine whether a potential candidate should run for an elected office. They are most often cited in reference to United States Presidential hopefuls, prior to the primaries.Exploratory...

, and announced the organization in a video message on April 11, 2011. He officially announced his candidacy in Stratham, New Hampshire
Stratham, New Hampshire
Stratham is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 7,255 at the 2010 census. It is bounded on the west by the Squamscott River. The town is the home of the only U.S. Lindt & Sprüngli factory and the headquarters of the Timberland Corporation.-History:Stratham...

 on June 2, 2011.

Background

Romney ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, winning several primary and caucus contests but losing to John S. McCain III.

After the 2008 election, Romney paved the way for a possible 2012 presidential campaign by keeping much of his PAC's money to underwrite salaries and consulting fees for his existing political staff and to build up a political infrastructure for what might become a $1 billion campaign three years hence. He also had a nationwide network of former staff and supporters eager for him to run again.
He continued to give speeches and raise campaign funds on behalf of fellow Republicans.

Polls of various kinds showed Romney remaining in the forefront of possible 2012 presidential contenders. In nationwide opinion polling for the 2012 Republican presidential primaries, he has often led polls or been in the top three along with Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...

 and Huckabee neither of whom is necessarily running for the office.
He finished first in the CPAC
Conservative Political Action Conference
The Conservative Political Action Conference is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States....

 straw poll in 2009 and second in 2010 and 2011, won the Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll in 2010, and won the New Hampshire Straw Poll
New Hampshire Straw Poll
The New Hampshire Straw Poll is a straw poll for the United States Republican presidential primary elections that was started in 2011 through promotion by ABC News and WMUR-TV...

 in 2011.

Campaign developments

Exploratory committee

Before a slower start to the presidential campaign by all contenders than four years previous, on April 11, 2011, Mitt Romney announced by means of a video recorded that day at an athletics field at the University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire is a public university in the University System of New Hampshire , United States. The main campus is in Durham, New Hampshire. An additional campus is located in Manchester. With over 15,000 students, UNH is the largest university in New Hampshire. The university is...

 that he had formed an exploratory committee as a first step for a potential run for a Republican presidential campaign, saying, "It is time that we put America back on a course of greatness, with a growing economy, good jobs and fiscal discipline in Washington."

Romney also unveiled his new presidential campaign logo and slogan, "Believe in America". The logo was criticized for bearing too much resemblance to the logo for the toothpaste
Toothpaste
Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used with a toothbrush as an accessory to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it serves as an abrasive that aids in removing the dental plaque and food from the teeth, assists in suppressing...

 Aquafresh
Aquafresh
Aquafresh is a brand of toothpaste that has been on sale since 1973. It is manufactured by consumer healthcare product maker GlaxoSmithKline...

, and the slogan was criticized for being the same as fellow Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 politician John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

 in his 2004 presidential campaign
John Kerry presidential campaign, 2004
The Presidential Campaign of John Kerry, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and the nominee of the Democratic Party challenged Republican incumbent President George W. Bush in the U.S. presidential election on November 2, 2004. Ultimately, Kerry conceded defeat in the race in a telephone call to Bush...

.

Formal announcement

Romney formally announced his candidacy for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination at an outdoor gathering in Stratham, New Hampshire
Stratham, New Hampshire
Stratham is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 7,255 at the 2010 census. It is bounded on the west by the Squamscott River. The town is the home of the only U.S. Lindt & Sprüngli factory and the headquarters of the Timberland Corporation.-History:Stratham...

 on June 2, 2011.
In his announcement speech, he pledged to make the U.S. economy the main focus of his campaign, saying "My number one job will to see that America is number one in job creation."

Fundraising

On May 16, 2011, the Romney campaign announced that it had raised $10.25 million "in connection with today's call day fundraiser in Nevada." This was hailed in the media as "an impressive one day total." Thereafter, however, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

reported that "the amount actually represented pledges gathered earlier and tallied that day, not just funds actually taken in by the campaign." Later, it was discovered that Romney had actually raised $2.403 million on May 16, about a quarter of the claimed amount.

For the entire second quarter, the campaign expected to raise only about $20 million, less than the $44 million raised in that period in 2007 but still more than any of the other Republican candidates. Romney's campaign raised $18.5 million by the end of June, $14 million more than Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...

, who came 2nd in funding amongst Republican candidates.

Endorsements

Romney has received endorsements from:


External links

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