WOLFEBORO, N.H. — Mitt Romney’s large family is at the center of his life and his presidential campaign.
His five sons, five daughters-in-law and 18 grandchildren — “a bevy of Romneys,” he has called them — were front and center on Independence Day as he paraded his family down Main Street in this resort town where the family vacations.
“My family’s so big, it takes two risers,” Romney said after he reached the end of the parade route and held a campaign event in a field overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee. As he spoke, he was flanked on two raised platforms by his sons and many grandchildren.
Although a few family members sometimes accompany Romney on the campaign, the annual family vacation provided a rare opportunity for him to showcase all the members of the group he invokes so often. They number 30 in all, and his wife, Ann, laments that it’s tough to get them in one place at the same time.
At a time when nontraditional families have become more common, and when even the Romneys watch “Modern Family,” a popular sitcom that centers on unconventional family arrangements, the Romney brood stands out. Mitt and Ann Romney have been married for more than 40 years.
It’s an embodiment of the family-values message that resonates with Republicans and Democrats, and it offers a chance for Romney to portray himself as caring and authentic. That’s a handy perception for him to cultivate in the face of Democratic attempts to paint him as a heartless millionaire.
Romney’s two presidential campaigns — he fell short of winning the nomination in 2008 — haven’t been easy on everyone, though.
“The process is tough. It’s tough on the family,” said Tagg Romney, the eldest of the Romney brothers. “The issues that the media focuses on don’t tend to be the largest, most important issues. The little things that trip you up tend to be little gaffes or slips of the tongue that end up defining the race, and life’s too short for that.”
