Romney's Vacation? The 'Romney Olympics'
The GOP candidate breaks from the campaign trail by competing against his family in a series of sporting and skill events.
| Posted Monday, July 2, 2012, at 12:09 PM
Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images.
Mitt Romney and family are taking a break from the competitive world of presidential campaigning by, uh, holding a highly competitive series of family events known as the “Romney Olympics.”
About 30 members of the Romney family will spend the Fourth of July holiday at their New Hampshire lakefront compound, the Washington Post reports. The "Romney Olympics" include a bike-swim-run triathlon, a football throwing competition, and a contest to see who can hammer the most nails in two minutes.
The contest had long included traditional sporting events like running and biking, but after the former governor nearly lost one year, he expanded the game's repertoire to include things like football throwing and hammering "to give himself a better shot," according to the Post.
The family vacation—described as mandatory—also involves family discussions of each son's career, a talent show for most of the grandchildren, and lots of s’mores.
The Associated Press is using the vacation to dig a bit into Romney's private religious life—something he's largely declined to discuss on the campaign trail. The small resort town in which Romney's compound is situated has its own branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the church allows visitors. The AP's write-up of the service, which is, well, about as exciting as a New England church service normally is, seems likely to do more good than harm for the candidate's image. Romney supporters tend to argue that media scrutiny of Mormonism is aimed at hurting the candidate's image by making his religion seem strange, which is seen by some as part of the reason for Romney's reticence on his beliefs.
But it's not all smooth sailing for the candidate this week. As the New York Times explains, Romney's decision to take the full week off could prove a bit awkward on Friday, when the jobs report is released. "It would seem an odd choice for him to comment on the news with his six-bedroom home on 13 acres as a backdrop," notes the Times.
