5 sons are popular features on Romney campaign blog

BOSTON — Tagg Romney, 37, loves the Sox and has a thing for Billy Joel. Matt Romney, 35, always tunes in to "Saturday Night Live," and Josh Romney, 31, likes to surf and water-ski. Ben Romney, 29, hesitates to call his dog, Kingsley, a half yorkie and half poodle, "a yorkie-poo." And Craig Romney, 26, a Tom Brady look-alike, has 337 friends on MySpace and cites his dad, along with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., as his heroes.

Wholesome does not really begin to describe the five adult children of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who for the past few weeks have been sharing such details on Five Brothers, their blog and the most popular feature on the former Massachusetts governor's campaign Web site. The blog is yet another medium to convey the image of dedicated family man that is an essential part of Romney's identity as a candidate. Last week, while most of his opponents introduced themselves during the Republican presidential debate by highlighting their resumes, Romney started with, "I'm a husband, a father, a grandfather. ..."

One way to measure a blog's popularity is its unpopularity, and Five Brothers has gotten enough attention to inspire parody. A blogger mocking the brothers writes: "Tagg is 37 ... likes ... basketball ... horses, travel ... trust fund . ..."

Such carping does not seem to faze the Romneys. "It's a cynical world we live in, and my brothers are just being ourselves," says Tagg, sitting at campaign headquarters at this city's North End, where he keeps an office. Adds Matt: "Our goal is for people to get to know our dad a little more differently than they might in a 30-second TV spot. To get to know him through his family. So everyone's blogging."

The image of the Romneys as the perfectly polished all-American family has been a theme since Mitt Romney began his career in politics. During Romney's unsuccessful 1994 Senate run, his wife, Ann, known as the family's CFO (chief family officer), told the Boston Globe that she has never had a serious argument with her husband.

The comparison with other candidates is implied and occasionally has become explicit. Asked earlier this year what distinguishes her husband from the rest of the field, his wife of 38 years replied, "He's had only one wife," a stinger that seemed to be directed at the thrice-married, twice-divorced Republican Rudolph Giuliani, who is estranged from his two children.

There is at least some danger that if the family seems too perfect, the approach could backfire.