Mitt lets hair down — figuratively

Former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney made fun of Utah — and himself — during a surprise appearance at a dinner this week for Washington, D.C., radio and television reporters.

His "Top 10" list of reasons why he dropped out of the race for the White House earlier this year started with, "There weren't as many Osmonds as I had thought" and ended with, "There was a flaw in our campaign theory that as Utah goes, so goes the nation."

Romney offered the David Letterman-style list, written with the help of several campaign advisers, at the Radio and Television Correspondents Association annual awards dinner Wednesday night. A video of his appearance is available on YouTube.

He suddenly appeared on stage as Steve Chaggaris, CBS News director of political coverage, was telling the audience that there had been little competition for the Republican's presumptive presidential pick, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

"I don't think you got that right," Romney told Chaggaris as the reporters laughed and applauded. Chaggaris joked, "That's odd. I thought there was a cardboard cutout of Mitt Romney behind me" before turning the stage over to the former Massachusetts governor.

Romney was approached by the association about a week ago to see if he "could come up with something funny" for the dinner, his Boston-based spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom, told the Deseret News Thursday.

"We put together the 'Top 10' list, which was all in good fun. It got some big laughs at the dinner, and I know the governor enjoyed himself immensely," Fehrnstrom said, quickly adding that Romney "has a lot of dear friends in Utah."

Utahns, of course, contributed more money to his campaign than residents of any other state except California. They also gave him an overwhelming victory in Utah's Feb. 5 GOP primary.

Romney, who has a vacation home in Deer Valley, spent several years in Utah running the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. And like the majority of Utahns, he is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Most of the rest of the list mocked Romney himself, including reason No. 4, "I wanted to finally take off that dark suit and tie and kick back in a light-colored suit and tie," and No. 2, "I took a bad fall at a campaign rally and broke my hair."

Although Romney was criticized at times for being somewhat stiff on the campaign trail, Fehrnstrom said that's not the case. "He's got a great sense of humor and he likes to take it out from time to time," Fehrnstrom said.