Who wouldn't be flattered by the way his friends in Massachusetts have fluttered their eyelashes at Mitt Romney? As the Olympic flame burned over Salt Lake City, the overtures started to come from the east: would the chairman of the 2002 Winter Olympics please return to his home state and run for governor? Many Republicans in Massachusetts think that squeaky-clean Mr Romney is their only hope. Some of them have launched a website, draftMitt.com, to lure in the 54-year-old; others are lining up the 500 convention delegates needed to ensure him a place on the primary ballot in September. The current betting is that Mr Romney will announce his candidacy once the closing ceremony of the Paralympics on March 16th is out of the way. That would mean revoking an earlier pledge not to challenge the current Republican governor, Jane Swift. But Mr Romney has dropped some hard-to-misinterpret hints, paying for his own state poll and sending a letter to potential supporters, saying they might have to work hard on his behalf. In the meantime, he has enjoyed a bonanza of free publicity and buzz.
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