Bullock said his experience is that "Mitt is not seeking these things," whether it's leading the organizing committee or a government. "He's not one that I have the sense has programmed everything out. He just sees the opportunity for public service and responds to it."

Political observers say Romney appears to be readying himself for that opportunity in 2008.

"I definitely see him positioning himself," Christopher Malone, a political science professor at Pace University in New York City, said after meeting Romney during the Democratic National Convention in Boston earlier this summer.

Malone said he was impressed with how the Massachusetts Republican came across during an address to a group of college students participating in a political internship program at the convention.

"He said, 'Look, I'm a Republican in a heavily Democratic state, at a Democratic convention, and I want to talk to you about what it looks like from the other side.' He defended Bush's policies forcefully. He did it respectfully," Malone said.

Romney even looked the part of a national candidate. "Talk about photogenic, telegenic and just polished, he's got it all," Malone said. "I could see him grooming himself and being groomed for higher office. He definitely has a presence about himself that is presidential."

The GOP wasn't able to take advantage of that presence during the Democratic convention, however. Romney refused that week to participate in the political attacks against John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee and Massachusetts' junior senator.

"I made it very clear I was there as a host, not as a partisan, for one week," Romney said. He said the Bush camp was told that during the convention, "my responsibility as the host governor had to be to welcome, and not to bash and embarrass."

Now he's free to resume his surrogate role through the November election. Romney said he'll continue to travel on behalf of the president to "places where I can be of help," likely accompanied by other GOP elected officials.

He first hit the campaign trail during the New Hampshire primary in January. "The president can't be everywhere," Romney said. "He didn't want the airwaves to be filled with Kerry alone, so I was there to be interviewed and to get our message out."

For political observers, Romney's willingness to work for the president's reelection shows he's focused on his own future. "By paying his dues now and being a loyal foot soldier, he will endear a lot of the Bush folks to him if and when he decides to run," Malone said.

Bruce Bartlett, a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C., said Romney's participation in the president's reelection campaign would matter more if he could deliver Massachusetts to Bush.