Boston, MA—

Mitt Romney greeted his supporters at his election night party flanked by his wife Ann and three of his sons and their wives. Members of the Massachusetts Republican delegation stood behind Romney on the stage. He already had wins in his home state of Massachusetts, Utah and North Dakota, but the rest was still unclear:

“At this stage, it is really hard to tell how many delegates we are going to get because a lot of states of course we haven’t heard from, the Western states. We know that is going to be close and interesting in states,” Romney said, “All over the West so we are going to see what kind of numbers come in. We will add those numbers up and have them bright and early in the morning. My guess is at our home we will stay up a little bit later than most of you will.”

That’s after his all-nighter last night and the campaign pressing that the presidential hopeful will get some sleep tonight.

The former Massachusetts governor made it clear that his campaign will not end tonight even with disappointing losses in states like Georgia, Missouri, and West Virginia. He said he will go to the Republican National Convention:

“Some people who thought it was all going to be done tonight, but it is not all done tonight. We are going to keep on battling. We are going to go all the way to the convention. We are going to win this thing and we are going to go to the White House.”

Romney stayed upbeat and enthusiastic staying mostly on his stump. He did quip that he disagreed with his wife, a rare occasion:

“Ann came to me and she said you know the one thing that is clear tonight is that nothing’s clear but I think she’s wrong. One thing that is clear is this campaign is going on.”

At this point Romney has picked up Massachusetts, Utah, North Dakota, Colorado, Montana, and Minnesota. John McCain has won California, a hard loss for the Romney camp. But, we will not know what that means in terms of delegates for quite awhile.

Watch an excerpt here:

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Boston, MA–

Fox News projects Romney will win North Dakota. His wife, Ann campaigned for him there 3 days ago.

Boston, MA—

Mitt and Ann Romney cast their votes today at Belmont Town Hall. Ann finished her ballot first while her husband seemed to labor over his a bit more. After they voted they got a sample ballot as a souvenir and Romney quipped, “That’s pretty fun. First time I’ve ever voter for myself for president.”

Media swarmed the Romneys as they left the town hall and ascended a small hill to talk to the press. He showed the ballot to the cameras and added that his wife, son, and daughter-in law are all on the ballot as members of the Republican town committee, “So we got to vote for a number of family members.”

Romney reflected on the experience of voting for himself and called it, “humbling”

“The opportunity to vote for yourself for president is really something I had never expected to be able to do,” Romney told reporters, “It was a great honor and very humbling to think that we’ve come to a point in life where our friends have rallied around us in such an extraordinary way that we have prospects of becoming the nominee of our party to be the President of the United States. We have a lot of work to do before that happens, of course.”

The former Massachusetts governor said it was good to be home for the first time since Christmas.

“It’s nice to get back and to scare the rodents out, and—not exactly—and open the mail. We have a lot of mail. And you know, a hot bath, what do you think Ann?”

Mrs. Romney replied, “Sounds good.”

They didn’t take any questions from reporters even though many tried to ask about his loss in West Virginia to Mike Huckabee.

Salt Lake City, UT—

Mitt Romney stepped off the campaign trail this morning to attend the funeral of the president of the Mormon Church, Gordon B. Hinckley. Sat next to his wife, Ann in the 2nd row of the VIP section he was right behind U.S. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid,–also a member of the LDS church.

Romney sons Matt and Josh also attended the funeral. Josh took a redeye flight to Salt Lake City from Alaska where he was campaigning for his father.

Thousands of mourners joined the Romney family at the Latter Day Saints Conference Center to mark the passing of the spiritual leader. The service began with the next presumptive head of the church, Thomas S. Monson. Various family members and church leaders read from Mormon scripture, secular poetry like Longfellow, and even a message of condolence from President Bush and the First Lady. They praised Hinckley known as the “great communicator” for explaining and publicizing the religion to the American people. Most notably, in a 1996 interview telling Mike Wallace, “We are not a weird people.” Almost all of the speakers also spoke of the leader’s great humor.

Yesterday while campaigning in Denver Romney reflected on his relationship with Hinckley:

“During the Olympics I had the chance to meet with him two or three times, and to discuss matters about the Olympics and he was gracious and generous in his support.  And prior to running for office I got the privilege of meeting with him one more time and with a twinkle in his eye, he made the comment,” Romney told reporters, ‘“if you decide to run and you win it will be a great experience, if you run and lose it’ll also be a great experience.’ And he’s a man I respect a great deal and I want to pay my respects to his family and acknowledge the importance of his life in my own life.”

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There was no mention of Romney during the ninety-minute service. But, when he entered the conference center mourners surrounded him and shook his hand.

With Super Tuesday just three days away, Romney did eight local satellite interviews this morning and gets back on the trail right after the funeral, traveling to Minnesota before heading to Chicago and St. Louis tomorrow.

St. Petersburg, FL—

After what Romney campaign staff thought was going to be a late night turned out to be a decisive victory for John McCain, Mitt Romney gave a subdued concession speech here while standing next to his wife and four of his five sons telling the crowd, “Almost, but not quite.” Supporters, many who came from out of state to volunteer, both cheered and wiped away tears. One volunteer who came from Iowa told me that she thinks she is “bad luck” and that she’s going home.

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The Romney campaign immediately began to spin the defeat saying that there are two horses still in the race: 1 and 1 A and that they can continue to stay competitive in the 21 Super Tuesday contests coming up in one week. The campaign will continue to focus on the economy, even though exit polls show that voters who said that economic worries were their number one issue went to McCain over Romney. He travels to California tomorrow for the next GOP debate at the Reagan Presidential Library and will also campaign in the state.

Romney’s speech was mostly his standard stump, even though he used a tele-prompter, something he rarely uses and I have not seen while covering the campaign. He did end with a joke that may be a preview to how much money they will throw into advertising in the February 5th states:

“All you guys are family. Don’t expect to be part of the inheritance—I’m not sure there’s gonna be much left after this.”

Romney’s wife, Ann also greeted the crowd. Though she looked clearly moved by the loss she stayed positive:

“This is just a send off point. It is not an end. It is another beginning.”

Click here to watch an excerpt of Governor Romney’s speech:

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Click here to watch an excerpt of Ann Romney’s speech:

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Aboard Air Romney–

It’s rare that you get to be with the candidate the moment he secures a victory. But, today Governor Romney heard the news that he won the Nevada caucuses while briefing reporters on his new economic plan. It was courtesy of his wife, Ann on the plane’s PA system and Fox News.

“I have an announcement,” Ann Romney said. Romney tried to stop the interruption before realizing he should probably listen to his wife. Ann continued, “Fox News has officially called the race in Nevada for Mitt Romney.”

Staffers seated at the front of the plane started cheering and Romney welcomed the interruption, “That is a good announcement. Any more good ones? Keep them coming, Keep them coming. That’s great news, alright. All right. We won Nevada. That’s good news.”

We got to hear his instant reaction the moment he took his win in:

“That is terrific news. I could not be more pleased than to hear that Nevada’s in my column, and you know, Nevada has 34 delegates, and I want those delegates,” Romney continued, “We’re watching the delegate count very closely and I want to be able to rack them up.”

The presidential hopeful was asked if Nevada means less because it was pretty much an uncontested victory. He has been touting the 34 delegates that he gains from the win:

“No one did as much campaigning in Nevada as, as they’ve done in some other states,” Romney continued, ”I don’t know why they didn’t decide to pay as much attention to the state as I did but from my standpoint that was good news not bad news.”

The presidential hopeful will now set his sights next on the Sunshine State embarking on a bus tour this Monday.

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Grand Rapids, MI–

Governor Romney held a “get out the vote rally” of 150 people in a warehouse of an office furniture business this morning. This is Romney’s only event today before what the confident campaign is billing a “victory party” later this evening. Standing in front of “Washington is Broken” signs and a high school jazz band Romney was confident on primary day saying he believes “the American people are going to do the right thing today.” He spoke about his father, a three-term governor here and a presidential candidate in 1968:

“This is the day that’s gonna change, I believe, the politics in the nation, as we get ready to select our nominee. I think Michigan is gonna vote for a Romney again—I’m planning on it.”

While introducing his wife, Ann to the crowd, it was clear his father was on both of their minds:

“Ann, as I said, I think she fell in love with dad even before she fell in love with me. She knew my dad and thought he was the greatest and we obviously miss him on a day like today,” the presidential hopeful continued, “He would be here, I’ll tell you, I don’t know how we’d hold him down. He’d be going from place to place to place. He’d be arguing with people that had a sticker on for somebody else, telling them, ‘You can’t vote for that guy! You gotta vote for my son.’”

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Romney, who was born and raised in Michigan, ended with one last plea:

“Let’s get out there and vote!”

Southfield, MI

Governor Romney spoke to a very enthusiastic crowd today of at least 600 people. They were packed into Lawrence Technological University and interrupted his speech several times with “Mitt, Mitt, Mitt!” as he spoke. Romney grew up in another Detroit suburb, Bloomfield Hills, and the hometown crowd really came out to support the former Massachusetts governor:

“This is the best crowd I’ve had in Michigan all week!” Romney said to the roaring throng, “You guys are fabulous.”

Romney has been talking about his father George Romney, who was a three-term governor here, at every campaign stop. His father’s name is always met with cheers from the audience. He is hoping this home field advantage leads him to victory on Tuesday. The latest Detroit Free Press poll has him at 27 percent, ahead of McCain’s 22 percent.

The presidential hopeful has also been promising Michiganders that he will help revitalize the struggling economy here:

“I will commit this to you. If I’m President of The United States, I will not rest until Michigan is back.”

Romney has been campaigning on this promise and that his experience as a businessman will enable him to bring jobs back to the state. John McCain has said that some manufacturing and auto industry jobs that have left Michigan to go overseas are not coming back. Romney says that is not true:

“I hear people now and then say, ‘Oh it’s gone it’s never coming back. Transportation, gone, Detroit those jobs are never coming back.’ Well baloney. I’m going to fight for every single new job. We are going to rebuild this industry. We are going to make Michigan strong and a leader again in the world.”

Romney has not laid out any specific proposals to get Michigan’s economy back on track, but tomorrow he will be addressing the Detroit Economic Club and he is expected to go into more detail on how he will revive the economy and bring jobs back to Michigan.

Click below to see parts of speeches delivered today by Ann Romney, Tagg Romney, and Governor Romney:

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Lansing, MI

The Romneys took a tour of the Michigan state capital building in Lansing where Governor Romney’s father, George Romney served three terms as the state’s Governor. After his death he lay in state in the rotunda.

The Romneys got off the Mitt Mobile outside of the George W. Romney state office building then crossed the street to the capital. When asked what he remembered about his younger days at the capital Romney said he came often and laughed recalling a summer job where he forged his father’s signature on notary republic certificates. The cameras followed the Romneys and his brother Scott upstairs to where a painting of George Romney hangs. They were both visibly moved. The governor was misty-eyed and tears welled up in Ann’s eyes. Ann was very close to George Romney, helping her convert to Mormonism when Mitt was doing his mission in France.

Click below to see the tour:

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Bedford, NH

Governor Romney had a packed day today filled with greeting voters at polling stations and scrambling for those last minute votes. Keep reading for the voting day play by play:

Manchester, NH
7:05AM

His first stop was with his wife Ann and Senator Judd Gregg at 7AM. He missed Governor Huckabee by moments at the Brookside Congregational Church in Manchester. Most people seemed eager to shake the presidential hopeful’s hand, but one man yelled hello to the governor saying it was nice to see him but adding, “I can’t help ya!”

Romney told the press that his campaign had made 100,000 calls in the last day and believes he is going to take it all:

“We are going to end up winning this thing and for that matter that will mean that I have gotten more votes than anybody else in this process so far with Iowa, Wyoming, and New Hampshire. So we are on to Michigan after success here tonight.”

Bedford, NH
7:50AM

Romney made his 2nd stop at Bedford High School. He again greeted voters going to the polls and stayed positive saying that this is a 50 state game and that he beat McCain in Iowa and Wyoming and he could beat him here.

A great example of New Hampshire retail politics happened when a man walked by Romney and said, “You’re a good guy, but you call my house way too much!”

Just another presidential candidate in the first primary state of New Hampshire!

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Number three was the Broad Street Elementary School and it was a mob scene of media, supporters, and of course voters trying to get through.

A loud group of McCain supporters hollered, “The McCain Way!” and “100 feet! 100 feet!” A reference to how far away Romney had to stay away from the polling location. Romney supporters chimed in with, “Let’s go Mitt!” And “We love Mitt!” He tried to greet voters and take pictures, but it was almost impossible with the media hoard.

He gave an update on how he was feeling, lowering expectations just a bit:

“At this stage I feel awfully darn good. I can’t guarantee what is going to happen. I would like to win here. I would like to get the gold here.”

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