Josh Romney trying to show voters 'lighter side' of his father on campaign trail

The pair have few differences when it comes to politics, Romney said. "My Dad and I politically line up really closely. There's nothing, there's never really been a moment where I have to try to answer for my Dad and not for me. Obviously, we don’t line up on everything, but he's pretty convincing."

Romney, a graduate of Brigham Young University like his brothers, owns Romney Ventures, a real-estate development firm with offices on downtown's Pierpont Avenue.

He sounds decidedly less enthusiastic about following his father into the business world. "Real estate pays the bills and it's where I need to unfortunately spend most of my time," Romney said.

But he said he felt rewarded by his work for Charity Vision, an organization providing medical care to the poor in Third World countries. "At the end of the day, those are the things you can look back on," Romney said.

Four years ago, Romney considered a bid for the 2nd District seat held by the state's only Democrat in Congress, Rep. Jim Matheson, and later, joining a GOP ticket challenging Gov. Gary Herbert.

He said he'd had no second thoughts about putting aside his political ambitions while his children are young. "It would have been really hard for the family, so I don't regret that at all," Romney said.

Now his political involvement is limited to supporting his father, as well as Matheson's current Republican opponent, Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love and longtime GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch, who faces his first primary in 36 years.

November's presidential race will be close, Romney predicted.

"I think we've got a great shot at winning and I feel really confident about our chances. So we're working as hard as we can," he said. "But we know it's going to take every effort. We can't expect it to happen."

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