Romney
acknowledges he's exploring run for president

Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who's spent the past several months addressing Republican loyalists in political hot spots around the country, acknowledged Tuesday what's been obvious for the past several months: He's considering a presidential run. "If someone said, 'Well, you know, the governor's testing the national waters,' that's a fair characterization," Romney said. "But I'm planning on running for governor. Time will tell; I'll make a final decision and an announcement in the fall, and we'll go from there." Romney, a former venture capitalist who headed the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, won that year's race for governor in Massachusetts. He's recently spent time in South Carolina, Michigan, and California to address Republicans. In those addresses he cast himself as a social conservative on such issues as same-sex marriage and stem cell research. Last weekend he traveled to the Republican stronghold of California's Orange County. In February it was revealed that a political action committee established by friends and supporters of Romney had distributed more than $250,000 to Republican candidates and county GOP organizations across the nation, a strategy often used by candidates considering a run for president. Romney's first term for governor ends in 2006. In December, Romney pledged to run for reelection, but he's gradually backed away from that commitment. On Tuesday, Romney reiterated that he would wait until fall to make a final decision about a reelection bid. "I'm out speaking across the country.... I'm seeing what it's like in the rest of the nation, but nothing's changed," he said. "My job keeps me here." (AP)