This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake City isn't Lady Lake, Fla., and Mitt Romney must be thankful for that.
People here don't heckle the Massachusetts Mormon about "knowing the Lord." They don't consider the presidential candidate a pretender. They don't even mind that his primary goal is to charm the checkbooks off of them.
Since January, Romney has raised $2 million from Utahns, and on Tuesday he was in town asking for more. At a fundraising meet-and-greet at the Grand America Hotel, the former head of the 2002 Winter Games said Utah is among his top 10 states for financial contributions partly because of those Olympic connections.
"The appreciation we feel for the people of Utah, the love we feel for the people here, is just hard to express," Romney said, noting his wife teared up in the car ride from the airport.
A crowd of about 500 welcomed the Romneys, and most paid a pretty sum for the privilege of being there. The minimum cost to attend was $1,000; those who paid another $1,300 got a special reception with the GOP hopeful.
Sinclair Oil owner Earl Holding, Sen. Orrin Hatch and Olympic gold medalist Jim Shea were in the audience, as was nearly half the Utah Legislature.
Of the 76 Republicans in the Utah statehouse, all but 10 have endorsed the former Massachusetts governor, including Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert or, as Romney twice called him, Governor Herbert. (Utah's actual governor, Jon Huntsman Jr., is supporting Arizona Sen. John McCain for president.)
As he posed for photos with legislators, Romney thanked them for their "loyalty, friendship and warmth," drawing a distinction between their role as lawmakers and patrons. "This is not part of the business of Utah's government. This is part of the business of politics," Romney said.
Herbert, however, all but anointed Romney the state's official presidential candidate.
"On behalf of the state of Utah, we know this is not a hard sell. If there's ever an adopted son of Utah, it's got to be Mitt Romney," Herbert said.
"We're honored to have you here and we're pleased to give you our encouragement and support. We know you will represent the nation well and we know you have some roots here in Utah that you're going to take with you."
Romney, who announced his candidacy Feb. 13, is getting plenty of mileage out of those ties. On the road five days a week, Romney's leadership of the scandal-ridden 2002 Olympics gets mentioned a lot. Utah and Salt Lake City not so much.
House Speaker Greg Curtis, who said he found Romney's charismatic leadership "almost intoxicating," isn't bothered that Romney rarely mentions his adopted state, noting candidates tailor their message to the audience. The Sandy Republican, who helped secure state funding for a south valley soccer stadium, said he never mentions Provo when campaigning in Sandy, and "I stay as far away from soccer as I possibly can when I'm in Utah County."
It is naive to think Utah's large Mormon population isn't a major factor in the strong support Romney receives, Curtis said. But the candidate also has family here, he lived here and he was in charge of "one of the most defining events in Utah."
"His connection isn't simply 'I traveled through here on a campaign speech.' "
Contrast that with Romney's recent stop in Lady Lake, Fla.
Last week, Romney spoke to a standing-room-only crowd at The Villages, a sprawling retirement community in central Florida. The Miami Herald reported that Romney captivated many seniors with his speaking style and conservative philosophy. And he kept his composure when a heckler attacked him for being a Mormon:
"You sir, you are a pretender. You do not know the Lord."
Even in Utah, Romney couldn't escape questions about his religion, and by now his response is well-rehearsed.
"I believe in God. I believe in the family. I believe in America's future. It has a great role to preserve the peace on the planet. So the kinds of values I have are very much in line with those of the American people," Romney said. "My guess is as they get to know me better, there will be other faults that they find more troubling."