Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney made a stop in Tennessee Sunday, at a gathering of Republicans at the home of newly elected state Sen. Jack Johnson in the Nashville suburbs. I was there, along with about 40 other people, including at least four members of the state legislature, conservative radio talker Steve Gill (whose show is carried on several stations statewide), former U.S. Rep. Van Hilleary, Nashville conservative political blogger Nathan Moore, and U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee

Tennessee isn't an early primary state, but Romney was here because Tennessee favorite-son U.S. Sen. Bill Frist has dropped out of the GOP presidential nomination race, so Tennessee is now in play in the primaries - for both fundraising and votes.

Sunday's event wasn't a fund-raiser, just a chance for those there to get to know Gov. Romney.

Gov. Romney didn't speak for very long, but Romney, running for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, talked very effectively about health care and also touched on education and other issues, including the threat America faces from Islamist extremists.

Romney, who at times seems to be channeling some of the speaking mannerisms of Ronald Reagan, stressed the need for Republicans to project optimism in the face of challenges, and also urged Republicans not to cede such issues as health care, education and the environment to Democrats. He noted that Democrats are captive to special interests on those issues, so they can't solve those problems - for example, Democrats are too in the pocket of the teachers' unions to lead any effort at meaningful education reform.

Romney also explained why he doesn't go on the national Sunday political talk shows, saying he doesn't want voters to get tired of seeing him talking about all the same issues all the time, before the primary campaign really heats up. He said he has worked over the last two years to build a financial network to support his presidential campaign, and that is now in place.

Romney and U.S. John McCain are both considered to be ahead of the rest of the potential GOP field in terms of fundraising in what some call the "invisible primary," - the race to raise tens and then hundreds of millions of dollars to fund a campaign.

For more on Romney, there's a Mitt Romney for President blog, and an Americans for Mitt Romney website in addition to Romney's Commonwealth PAC website that I linked to above.

The first primary ballots will be cast in Iowa in fewer than 14 months.