Staffers Hope ‘Mutt Romney’ Will Be a Ticket to the White House
Advisors to former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney want him to change his first name.The new name: Mutt.
“Voters love it as a first name. When you throw Mutt out to a focus group or offer it in a poll, it just rockets off the charts,” explained a senior campaign aide, who asked not to be identified because his wife might be irritated at seeing his name on the Internet.
Romney, a Mormon with only one wife, raised some eyebrows with his candidacy because he has switched some of his core beliefs recently, backing away from supporting gay unions and a woman’s right to choose.
Aides believe that coming up with just the right first name will allow Romney to put questions about his beliefs behind him.
“The right kind of first name can bring it all together. It’s almost magical when it happens,” the aide said.
Particularly encouraging to the Romney campaign is how well “Mutt’ has fared in crucial bumper sticker studies. Aides said “Mutt for President” bumper stickers tested remarkably well in southern, mountain west and corn belt states. They even found strong support in upstate New York, particularly in Rochester.
One surprise was that “Mutt for President” turned in high scores in California.
“We almost skipped testing ‘Mutt for President’ in California to save money,” the aide said. “Lucky for us, wiser heads prevailed and we discovered that Californians, even in San Francisco, love that bumper sticker.”
Some campaign staff members are speculating that “Mutt for President” bumper stickers could become a hot collector item. With that possibility in mind, they have begun studying how to give each bumper sticker a serial number and some additional means to authenticate it as an original — and collectible — Romney bumper sticker.
“At this point, we don’t anticipate selling the ‘Mutt for President’ stickers, but who knows… maybe if the demand is out there,” a staffer said.
The possibility of a Romney name change originated in focus groups that thought the name “Mitt” had too much of a patrician air, that it suggested Greenwich, Connecticut or Scarsdale, New York.
“The last thing you want in this day and age is anything that might suggest any kind of a link to the Bush Dynasty,” said Edward Constanza, a presidential historian at North Central Cincinnati University. “Mitt certainly sounds like someone outside the American mainstream. Americans want simple first names like Benjamin, Alexander, Woodrow or Grover for their presidents.”