Plan B Forum

WASHINGTON: Surrounded by his five sons, their wives and 18 grandchildren, Mitt Romney will preside over his own family version of the Olympics at his $8 million New Hampshire estate this week.




The ferociously competitive games are a series of wholesome American contests that embody the Republican presidential challenger's tastes for tough competition and organised fun.

At a minimum, all adult members of the clan are expected to take part in a mini-triathlon of running, cycling and swimming. But after nearly losing to a daughter-in-law who had given birth just two months before, the 65-year-old Mr Romney expanded the games in an effort to compensate for his advancing age.

The family now compete to hammer the most nails into a board in two minutes, saw the most logs and hang on to a pole for the longest time before losing their grip.

''We added some things I excel at so I don't come in last every year,'' Mr Romney said.

The former Massachusetts governor's ultra-competitive streak is hardly unusual among contenders for the White House. President Barack Obama is known to become prickly during games of basketball and is reportedly not above stacking his team with the best players to ensure victory.

The games are just one part of the week-long retreat Mr Romney takes with his family each year. The grandchildren perform a talent show on a stage Mr Romney put up in the garden and the family poses for a group photograph wearing co-ordinated outfits.

Each adult contributes to the running of the five-hectare lake house by choosing a task from the ''chore wheel'' and in the evenings they gather for long discussions about each son's next career move.

While all five of Mr Romney's sons claim to look forward to the annual holiday, none pretends to have any choice but to attend.

How Romney holidays at his $8 million estate on Lake Winnipesaukee - with his time structured around competitive sports, household jobs and group activities - offers a rare window into the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's rhythms and proclivities.

Even as the close-knit clan embraces the childhood pastimes of a bygone era, summers here serve to enforce the bond of the primacy of this family. Trips to Wolfeboro are controlled and mandatory.

One summer when Mr Romney's eldest son, Tagg, now 42, was working for the Los Angeles Dodgers, he told his father he wouldn't make it to Wolfeboro. Baseball, after all, is a summer sport, and he didn't think he could take a week off in the middle of the season.

''My dad said, 'No, you will make it','' Tagg recalled in an interview. So he showed up, noting, ''I had to beg forgiveness from my bosses at the Dodgers.''

Other political families have had their athletic pursuits - the Kennedys at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, the Bushes at Kennebunkport, Maine - but it's not clear if they were as highly organised as the Romney Olympics.

A couple of little things will be different this summer at Camp Romney. For one, Papa is the presumptive nominee and talk of vice-presidential possibilities and other pressing concerns could filter into the family conversation. Also joining the fun will be an entourage of Secret Service agents, standing guard on the secluded property, with a hungry press corps lurking.

Tagg Romney said the family is ''focused on getting him elected, and we're not focused on anything beyond that. We will not talk about: if he wins, what does it mean for the family? We think it's bad form to talk about that stuff if you don't know whether you'll get there or not.''

Mr Romney has been going to the house in Wolfeboro for more than a decade but this year his week-long presence in New Hampshire may also be to his electoral advantage. He and Mr Obama are level in the polls in the Granite State, whose four electoral votes could prove decisive in a close November election.



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dgs49 wrote:Good lord, how can you be cynical about this?

What could be better than having a close-knit family vacation presided over by the patriarch?

The family now compete to hammer the most nails into a board in two minutes, saw the most logs and hang on to a pole for the longest time before losing their grip.

''We added some things I excel at so I don't come in last every year,'' Mr Romney said.

dgs49 wrote:I'm sure this vacation was planned months ago. If any of the Romney family have normal jobs (I doubt that any of them do), there would have been eons to advise the Boss and make work accommodations.

And for how many businesses is the 4th of July week a busy week? I'm sure none of them work in T-shirt shops on the Boardwalk.

One summer when Mr Romney's eldest son, Tagg, now 42, was working for the Los Angeles Dodgers, he told his father he wouldn't make it to Wolfeboro. Baseball, after all, is a summer sport, and he didn't think he could take a week off in the middle of the season.

''My dad said, 'No, you will make it','' Tagg recalled in an interview. So he showed up, noting, ''I had to beg forgiveness from my bosses at the Dodgers.''

bigskygal wrote:How very Norman Rockwell.

However, it seems from the article that Romney is actually publicizing this vacation as part of his campaign.

Whatever it is, it's not exactly the Kennedy boys playing touch football at Hyannis Port.

Lord Jim wrote: There are probably no young unmarried women getting horndoged by the adult married male family members....