Utahns shell out up to $2,300 each to help boost Mitt

Some 500 Utahns contributed as much as $2,300 each to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign at a Tuesday evening fund-raiser in Salt Lake City that included an endorsement from a majority of state GOP lawmakers.

Romney, who will hold another fund-raiser in St. George today before leaving Utah, told reporters at the Grand America Hotel that his experience leading the 2002 Winter Games from scandal to success demonstrates what he has to offer as a candidate.

Voters "want someone who's actually managed something," Romney said, describing how people came together to save the Games. "If we can do the same thing with the nation that Utah did for the Olympics, why, the challenges we have would be in the rearview mirror."

The former governor of Massachusetts said he is not offended at questions about his LDS faith, which has raised concerns about his ability to attract conservative Christian voters.

"I don't think most Americans are particularly concerned about the particular faith that a person has so long as the values of that faith are consistent with their own," he said. "The values of my faith are as American as can be."

Romney said he believes in God, the family and "that America's future has a great role to preserve the peace upon the planet. So the kinds of values I have are very much in line with those of the American people."

Also, he acknowledged he's adopted more conservative views on abortion and other issues. "If you don't change your position when you learn that you are wrong, you are stubborn and ought to get fired," Romney said, adding he was "proud of the fact that I'm willing to admit that on a few things, I've been wrong."

He answered questions from the media at a photo opportunity with Utah legislators who have endorsed his campaign — 17 of the 21 GOP senators and 49 of the 55 Republicans in the House.

The highest ranking Utah official backing Romney's bid, Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, joked, "This is not a hard sell with us. If there's ever an adopted son of Utah, it's got to be Mitt Romney." Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. supports Arizona Sen. John McCain for president.

One Utah lawmaker, Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Provo, even received a hug from Romney. The pair were classmates at Brigham Young University, Dayton said. "He was an upbeat achiever then and he just continues to be on a greater scale. I will do anything for Mitt," she said.

The main purpose of Tuesday's visit to Utah was, of course, to raise money for the campaign. Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said more than $2 million has already been contributed by Utahns since the start of the year.