Slowly but surely, Republican lawmakers are embracing Mitt Romney’s bid for the White House.
In recent days, Romney has snared several important endorsements from Capitol Hill, including those of Reps. Greg Walden (Ore.) and Hal Rogers (Ky.) and Sen. Thad Cochran (Miss.).
{mosads}Walden is a member of the House GOP leadership team; Rogers is the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee; and Cochran is the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations panel.
The former Massachusetts governor now has 31 endorsements from members of Congress. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is a distant second with 10. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) has five, and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has three, including one from his son.
Securing endorsements from legislators won’t give Romney the nomination, of course. In fact, he had a few more GOP Capitol Hill backers than Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) did during their battle for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.
However, it is telling that Romney is lapping the rest of the field this time around.
Some on the right have always viewed Romney with skepticism. They point out the healthcare law he signed in Massachusetts and that he once supported abortion rights. Democrats have seized on these two issues, attempting to portray Romney as a flip-flopper and claiming that the Massachusetts law served as a model for the healthcare overhaul President Obama signed last year.
The fact that Democrats are zeroing in on Romney is a sign that he is doing well in the GOP primary. Polls show him in first or second in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina and Florida. No other GOP presidential hopeful has shown that type of consistency in the early states.
A review of Romney’s congressional backers reveals a fair number of conservatives: Sen. Jim Risch (Idaho) and Reps. Jason Chaffetz (Utah), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Darrell Issa (Calif.), Patrick McHenry (N.C.) and Buck McKeon (Calif.).
As The Hill reported earlier this week, there are more than a few GOP kingmakers who simply do not like Romney. Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh has repeatedly bashed him, claiming he is not a conservative and ripping his position on climate change. Meanwhile, some Tea Party activists have made it clear they want anybody but Romney to win the nomination.
They might have to accept him, however. Republican operatives contend that businessman Herman Cain does not have the money or the organization to capture the nomination. Perry has fallen, and it’s unclear if he can get up. The other candidates are long shots.
Members of Congress have taken note and decided to jump on Romney’s bandwagon.