Photograph by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Tagg Romney gives an interview during the final day of the Republican National Convention in Florida.

Updated at 5: 15 pm EST

Tagg Romney, the eldest son of defeated 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, isn’t ready to join the family political dynasty. At least not yet.

A story in today’s Boston Herald reported that  the younger Romney, 42, was considering running in the Massachusetts special election to replace John Kerry, who gave up his U.S. Senate seat to become secretary of state. The report was nothing more than media speculation, a person familiar with Romney’s thinking told Bloomberg News.

Romney  proved the point with an e-mailed statement late this afternoon:

“I have been humbled by the outreach I received this weekend encouraging me to become a candidate for the U.S. Senate. I love my home state and admit it would be an honor to represent the citizens of our great Commonwealth. However, I am currently committed to my business and to spending as much time as I can with my wife and children. The timing is not right for me, but I am hopeful that the people of Massachusetts will select someone of integrity, vision, and compassion as our next U.S. senator.”

Romney was a frequent surrogate and top strategist on his father’s president campaign. Romney founded and runs Solamere, a Boston-based venture capital firm, and is the father of six children — the youngest of whom are infant twins.

Add to that his father’s less-than-stellar performance last year in the heavily Democratic state of Massachusetts — Mitt Romney lost the state he governed from 2003 to 2007 by 23 percentage points in the 2012 race for the White House — and a Tagg Romney candidacy would seem like an even longer shot.

Annie Linskey contributed reporting. 

Original post is Will He or Won’t He? Tagg Romney Says No to Senate by Political Capital.

Photograph by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Photograph by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Mitt and Ann Romney voted this morning near their home in Belmont, Massachusetts.

Asked who won his vote, Romney said, “I think you know.”

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama already had voted early, and returned from their final campaign rally after midnight, rising this morning in their home town of Chicago.

The Republican presidential nominee will head out today for two final campaign rallies in Cleveland and Pittsburgh before returning to Boston this afternoon to await the election results.

The president was planning a visit of volunteers working at turning out the vote today, and he has some basketball on his agenda before awaiting the election results tonight in Chicago.

Both Obama and Romney are giving Election Day interviews with media in key swing states.

Meanwhile, here’s some added early vote intelligence from YouTube:

It’s unlikely that any of the tracking polls counted the three American members of Sir Paul McCartney’s band who say they already have voted by mail for Obama — McCartney himself lends a symbolic endorsement with his own words for re-election: “Get Back.”

Lisa Lerer and Margaret Talev contributed

Original post is Romney Votes, McCartney Endorses by Political Capital.

Photograph by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Ann Romney and First lady Michelle Obama prior to the Presidential Debate at the University of Denver on October 3, 2012.

President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are at risk of being upstaged by their popular spouses in the race for the White House.

Ann Romney will make four campaign stops today, compared with just three for her husband, while Barack and Michelle Obama each attend three rallies.

President Obama is returning to the campaign trail after visiting New Jersey to examine the damage from Hurricane Sandy. He’ll speak at events in Wisconsin, Nevada and Colorado today while Vice President Joe Biden drops in on Iowa and former President Bill Clinton campaigns for both men in Ohio.

Mitt Romney makes three appearances in Virginia today, while his wife Ann blankets Ohio, seeking to further erode the gender gap in polls. Not to be outdone, Michelle Obama concentrates her campaign appearances in Florida today.

The spousal deployment comes as polls show the gender gap is narrowing between the candidates. Women now favor Obama 50 percent to 48 percent, compared with 56 percent to 41 percent last week, according to an ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll released Oct. 30. The gap among men has narrowed as well, to 51 percent versus 46 percent in favor of Romney from 57 percent versus 40 percent a week earlier, according to the survey.

Among men and women, Obama holds narrow leads over Romney in battleground states of Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Iowa as the campaigns enter their final days, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll released yesterday. Obama holds 49 percent to 46 percent lead in Wisconsin among likely voters, half what it was two weeks ago, and holds a 49 percent to 47 percent lead in New Hampshire.

Today in Washington, AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka outlines the “closing arguments” for the labor movement in the campaign and unveils a final get-out-the-vote plan on a conference call. The U.S. Travel Association releases its forecast for consumer, business and international travel for 2013, and the National Museum of the American Indian holds a symposium on the Washington Redskins NFL team’s name and logo.

Beyond the Beltway, Rezwan Ferdaus, who pleaded guilty to plotting to bomb the U.S. Capitol and Pentagon, faces sentence of 17 years in prison if a judge in Boston accepts his plea agreement today.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Minding the Gender Gap by Political Capital.

Photograph by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Ann Romney, Mitt Romney and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondhi during a rally at Tradition Town Square in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Ann Romney wants to `throw out’ the education system.

At least, that’s what she says in an interview with Good Housekeeping magazine which, a little more than one week before the presidential election, is likely to get plenty of attention from Democratic activists in the swing states where Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama are campaigning.

Or, it could prove to be another campaign “oops” moment on the question of education — (except Texas Gov. Rick Perry meant what he could remember).

“Can you tell me,” Good Housekeeping asks Romney in the interview posted online, “what campaign issue is closest to your heart?”

“I’ve been a first lady of the state,” the wife of the former Massachusetts governor replies. “I have seen what happens to people’s lives if they don’t get a proper education. And we know the answers to that. The charter schools have provided the answers. The teachers’ unions are preventing those things from happening, from bringing real change to our educational system. We need to throw out the system.”

The partisan bloggers already are all over it, with one tweeter calling it “jaw-dropping.’

Now, the Republican presidential nominee does not propose to eliminate the Department of Education. He does propose more “school choice.”

“Mitt Romney will pursue genuine education reform that puts the interests of parents and students ahead of special interests and provides a chance for every child,,” his campaign Web site explains. “He will take the unprecedented step of tying federal funds directly to dramatic reforms that expand parental choice, invest in innovation, and reward teachers for their results instead of their tenure. These policies will equip state leaders to achieve the change that can only come from commitment and action at the local level.”

To promote “choice and innovation,” he proposes “giving students trapped in bad schools a genuine alternative… (1) such alternatives must exist, (2) parents must receive clear information about the performance of their current school and of the alternatives, (3) students must be allowed to move to a new school, and (4) students must bring funding with them so that new schools can afford to serve them. ”

For that matter, the Obama administration’s Education Department has promoted local alternatives with federal subsidies for states proposing their own blueprints for education — Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s efforts supported by no less a Republican authority on education reform than former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

And neither Obama nor Romney wants what Perry thought he wanted, when asked during the Republican presidential primary debate which federal agencies he’d eliminate.

“I will tell you, it is three agencies of government when I get there that are gone. Commerce, Education, and the — what’s the third one there? Let’s see,” Perry said in that November debate in Minnesota. “The third agency of government I would — I would do away with, Education, the… Commerce and, let’s see… I can’t. The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.”

The response to Good Housekeeping may prompt some corrective action as well.

Original post is Ann Romney: `Throw Out’ Education System — Good Housekeeping by Political Capital.

Photograph by David Goldman/AP Photo

Ann Romney, right, hugs First lady Michelle Obama before the first presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney at the University of Denver, on Oct. 3, 2012.

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel had a great report on the Michelle Obama-Ann Romney debate.

The what?

On the street, one man queried about the first-ladies face-off that wasn’t offered a certain opinion about Obama’s victory.

“Definitely Ann Romney,” a young woman said. “I just like how she looks.”

Obama won, another man said.

“She connected with people,” he said, asked if anything in particular swayed him. “No,” he said, “in general, I just saw a little bit of it, to be honest with you.”

Makes one wonder what the CNN instant poll might find.

Original post is Michelle Obama-Ann Romney Debate: `Just Saw a Little Bit of It.’ by Political Capital.

Photograph by Ida Mae Astute/ABC via Getty Images

Ann Romney on "Good Morning America" yesterday.

Ann Romney was talking about “dancing horses and dancing stars, but not politics,” the network says, in her co-hosting of ABC News’ “Good Morning America” this week, and she was sharing her recipe for Ann Romney’s Welsh Skillet cakes — though burning them.

In a lower-profile yet just as pervasive way, the wife of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has been making quick appearances on television stations in the biggest markets throughout the swing states, with a schedule of interview tapings that would tax the busiest broadcaster. Today, it’s several in Florida, Colorado and New Hampshire.

Both Romney and President Barack Obama have the advantage of wives who project a strong personality, and are willing to campaign. In a contest which has targeted women as one of the most persuadable and influential voting blocs, Ann Romney and Michele Obama are the not-so-secret weapons of both campaigns. ABC noted that its poll with the Washington Post has found Ann Romney’s favorability rating “jumping 12 points” between April and October, “making her almost as popular as first lady Michelle Obama.” And who was appearing with an ad within an ad inside the Web ad on the Good Morning America Web-site this morning? Michele Obama, and her husband, urging everyone to get out and register to vote.

It’s been some time since Hillary Clinton derided those who bake cookies.

Democratic activist Hilary Rosen tried to play that card with Ann Romney earlier this campaign season — suggesting the stay-at-home mother of five boys had never worked a day in her life. The backlash was severe enough that the nominee’s wife, for a while, became off-limits politically. Bloomberg’s poll of married mothers in Ohio and Virginia this week shows a slight advantage for the Republican ticket in those states, though not necessarily enough to defeat Obama. Swing state polls today show marginal advantages for Obama in both states, though that edge apparently has narrowed since the first presidential debate last week.

“After raising five boys, I’m ready for anything that’s thrown my way,” Ann Romney said of her co-hosting of the morning news-talk show, ABC reported, before burning her signature Welsh cake snacks.“They’re burning,” she said of the fritters her Welsh grandmother taught her to make.

She’s been burning up the airwaves in those swing states, too, with her taped interviews. Today’s schedule alone:

*Taped Television Interview with WBBH, NBC/ABC Affiliate, Fort Myers-FL (Airs 10/11 4pm on NBC and 5pm on ABC

* Taped Television Interview with Central Florida News 13, Orlando-FL (Airs 10/11 at 12:30pm)

* Taped Television Interview with WJXT, Jacksonville-FL (Airs TBD)

* Taped Television Interview with WMUR, ABC Affiliate, Manchester-NH (Airs 10/11 at 12pm)

* Taped Television Interview with KDVR, Fox Affiliate, Denver-CO (Airs 10/11 at 7pm)

* Taped Television Interview with WPLG, ABC Affiliate, Miami-FL (Airs TBD)

* Taped Television Interview with WTVJ, NBC Affiliate, Miami-FL (Airs TBD)

* Taped Television Interview with WFOR, CBS Affiliate, Miami-FL (Airs TBD)

* Taped Television Interview with WSVN, Fox Affiliate, Miami-FL (Airs TBD)

Notably, neither Romney nor running mate Paul Ryan has any media interviews scheduled today. Ryan just has a debate tonight, with Vice President Joe Biden. And the nominee has a rally in Asheville, North Carolina. Ann Romney’s the one working it today.

Original post is Ann Romney: On the Air Everywhere by Political Capital.

At a rally in St. Petersburg, Florida, this evening, Romney praised debate moderator Jim Lehrer, who has come under some criticism for failing to challenge the candidates enough during the 90-minute session in Denver on Wednesday night, saying he gave the two candidates a chance to discuss their positions.

“I enjoyed that debate a couple of nights ago — that was a great experience,” Romney told about 5,000 people at a pier festooned with a giant American flag. “I think that Jim Lehrer did an excellent job in raising issues and having the candidates talk about our views on issues, rather than just the kind of `gotcha’ thing that sometimes happens with media interviews.”

His wife Ann, too, compared the format of the first debate favorably with the media coverage her husband usually gets.

“I was so thrilled at the debate, for people to see my husband, unfiltered, without any negative ads, without any media trying to interpret what he says and what he feels in his heart,” she said to cheers.

Romney also poked fun at President Barack Obama’s performance, which the president’s own campaign and Democratic strategists have conceded fell flat.

Noting that there was talk during the debate of both candidates’ jobs programs, Romney said of Obama: “Did you hear what he had to say? I didn’t either.”

And as some Democratic-aligned blogs circulated stories accusing Romney of having violated debate rules and brought a cheat-sheet of notes to the podium with him,  the Republican said he didn’t need such crutches to drive home his message.

“I’ve got five things — you’ve heard me talk about them,” Romney said of his job-creation proposal. “I don’t have to look at notes to know what they are, by the way. I know what they are.”

The Republican nominee already has started working on the next debate, his face-off with Obama scheduled Oct. 16. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, Romney’s debate practice sparring partner, showed up at the candidate’s hotel in Orlando tonight, on the eve of a weekend campaign tour of the Sunshine State.

Original post is Romney: Needed no Debate Notes by Political Capital.

Photograph by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Mitt Romney is introduced by his wife Ann at a fundraiser at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on Sept. 22, 2012.

Mitt and Ann Romney tell different stories about their visit to the White House when President George W. Bush lived there.

The candidate’s wife has spoken of walking in on a massage that Bush was getting.

Ann Romney remembers the embarrassment of the moment, as well as the former president’s remark when they later met at a White House function: “He looks at me, winks, and says, `I look pretty good, don’t I?”’

The candidate recalls something else: Lincoln’s bedroom.

Mitt Romney mentioned that today at a fundraiser in Philadelphia. In the Lincoln Room of the Union League Club, a large wood-paneled ballroom with high ceilings and a crystal chandelier, where Romney was holding a fundraiser with a top ticket of $50,000, Romney addressed a few hundred people.

He said he had gotten a “catch” in his throat when he saw the full sculpture of Abraham Lincoln at the club, but both he and his wife had “teared up” when they saw the Gettysburg Address at the White House.

“I had a chance at one point to be in the White House,” he said. “We were invited when I was governor and George W. Bush was president to go to the White House and go up on the second floor, where I’d never been before. I’m sure it’s something that not a lot of people have had the chance to do.”

“And Ann and I got up there and… the president took us around and showed us the queen’s room there, and then he showed us the Abraham Lincoln bedroom. And his bed is there, great big bed, big, I think it’s mahogany. It looks like mahogany.”

“And then over in the corner was a little uh, like a writing tablet about the size of this podium, with a glass over it. I went over and looked at it, and there was, in Abraham Lincoln’s own hand, the Gettysburg Address. Right there, in his and. And Ann and I both went over there and both teared up, just looking at it.”

“Extraordinary people who love America, who believe in America, have built this nation. I believe in America. I believe in the people of America.”

Original post is Romneys at White House: Lincoln Bedroom, George Bush’s Massage by Political Capital.

Photograph by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam leave after U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivered a speech in Jerusalem, Israel.

First Lady Michelle Obama may have done 56 fundraisers this year, besting Ann Romney’s tally of 37, but the aspiring first lady is not sitting idly by. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Ann Romney is headlining an Oct. 1 reception at the home of the biggest contributors to Republican super-political action committees: Las Vegas Sands Corp. chairman Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, who have donated $36.3 million to Republican-leaning groups.

Michelle Obama has raised at least $17.5 million for her husband’s re-election campaign this year, according to information provided by the Obama campaign and reported by Bloomberg yesterday. The Romney campaign wouldn’t provide ticket ranges or the approximate number of people attending Ann Romney’s events beyond confirming that she too has brought in millions to her husband’s campaign coffers this year.

Obama’s high-profile fundraisers like one at the Beverly Hills mansion of pop star Gwen Stefani in August have gotten far more attention than Ann Romney’s under-the-radar fundraisers, which included one at former President George W. Bush’s Dallas home on Sept. 18. Tickets for a Sept. 6 fundraiser with Ann Romney at Oscar-winner Robert Duvall’s home in Middleburg, Virginia ranged from $2,500 to $25,000, according to an invitation obtained by the National Journal.

Tickets for the Oct. 1 fundraiser range from $1,000 for the general reception to $10,000 per couple to co-chair the event, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“This will be the very first visit from Ann since her husband, Governor Mitt Romney, became the Republican nominee for president of the United States,” said the invitation obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Nevada is one of a handful of key battleground states frequented by both candidates.

Original post is Ann Romney to Raise Cash at Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Home by Political Capital.

Photograph by Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

Mitt Romney and his wife Ann speak at a fundraiser in Dallas on Sept. 18, 2012.

Ann Romney said the only reason she was retelling this story again today was because she was visiting Texas, home of former President George W. Bush.

As she did in a recent interview along with her husband that aired today on the syndicated daytime talk show  “Live! with Kelly & Michael” — the one in which the Republican Party’s presidential nominee allowed that he is “kind of a Snooki fan” — Ann Romney retold the tale of how a White House visit once ended with her accidentally seeing Bush getting a message.

The storytelling took place at a Dallas campaign fundraiser with her husband and about 500 donors in a hotel ballroom. Bush’s wife, Laura, had hosted another fundraiser with Ann Romney earlier in the day.

Ann Romney did layer in some additional details, including that it was Texas first lady Anita Perry who had actually opened the door in question.

“Anita opens one door and there’s George W. getting a message,” the former first lady of Massachusetts said to laughs. “I was so embarrassed.”

As the story goes, later that evening she ran into the president at a White House function.

“He looks at me, winks, and says, ` I look pretty good, don’t I?’” Ann Romney recounted.

Tickets for this evening’s fundraiser ranged in price from $2,500 to $50,000, according to campaign aides.

Original post is Ann Romney: When in Texas… by Political Capital.