Salt Lake City GER 12 16 7 35 USA 10 13 11 34 NOR 11 7 6 24 CAN 6 3 8 17 RUS 6 6 4 16 AUT 2 4 10 16 ITA 4 4 4 12 FRA 4 5 2 11 SUI 3 2 6 11 NED 3 5 0 8 Full 2002 table

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Mitt's poll of voters 'very encouraging'

By Lisa Riley Roche
Deseret News staff writer

      The results of Mitt Romney's poll of Massachusetts voters about the upcoming governor's race there are in — and they're "very encouraging," according to his longtime political adviser.
      The statewide poll matched the Salt Lake Organizing Committee president against acting Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift, a fellow Republican, as well as several potential Democratic opponents. A poll in last week's Boston Herald did the same and found Romney beating all of them.
      Wednesday, the Boston Globe reported Romney was paying for his own "ongoing statewide survey" of voters, citing unnamed advisers as its source. That poll is already finished, according to Charley Manning, a political consultant in Massachusetts.
      Manning, who worked with Romney on his unsuccessful 1994 campaign to unseat Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., would not provide details about the poll other than to say in a telephone interview Wednesday that the results "are also very encouraging."
      Romney has declined to talk about the race, saying he will focus on the 2002 Paralympics that begin Thursday and continue through March 16. Romney did say he would need to "gather information" before deciding whether to run.
      The state GOP convention is April 6, and Manning said Romney backers already are lining up the votes of convention delegates. Romney will need the support of at least 15 percent of the 3,500 delegates to qualify for the Sept. 17 primary.
      "If the convention were held today, I'm sure he'd get his 15 percent," said Jim Burke, the head of a political consulting and direct mail firm in Massachusetts. Burke launched a Web site Monday to rally support for Romney, www.draftmitt.com.
      Burke said that by this weekend, an effort could be under way to gather the 10,000 voter signatures that Romney would need by May 7 to get on the ballot. Also, Burke said he's working on a video about Romney that could be shown at the state party convention.
      He said an informal organization of people associated with Romney's 1994 campaign has been working for some time to get him in the governor's race. "We've been blown away by the level of success we've had already," Burke said.
      Although the success of the 2002 Winter Games has sparked much of the recent speculation about Romney's political future, he has been keeping a close eye on Massachusetts politics.
      A year ago, he told the Deseret News editorial board that it "would take very unusual circumstances for me or any other Republican to launch a primary campaign against the incumbent of the same party."

E-MAIL: lisa@desnews.com