Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

Tennessee political blogger Adam Groves reports on a Nashville campaign even for Mitt Romney. The former Republican governor of Massachusetts now running for president "had a meet-and-greet following what was rumored to be a very successful private fundraising session last night," Groves reports from Nashville...

Romney spoke a crowded room of about 75 Republican grassroots leaders as well as key Republican fundraisers, at an event apparently put together by big GOP donor and a member of the Romney fundraising team Ted Welch. ...

I can actually imagine Romney being President of the United States and yet he has one of the slimest resumes among the Republican field (which is not to say Romney's resume is slim by any kind of average standard). Romney exudes the optimistic confidence of a man in charge of a room...

Groves recaps Romney's remarks, then looks at who was in the crowd. It appeared to be a pretty good who's who of Tennessee Republican players and powerbrokers.

The Tennessee connection is this - we previously reported that Marsha Blackburn was behind Romney, but it wasn't evident until last night just how much she was behind Romney. Marsha's entire campaign apparatus was well represented, from her husband on down the line to her Middle Tennessee field director. Other luminaries spotted in the crowd include radio jock Steve Gill and in addition to and including Welch, several long-time supporters and campaign staffers of Sen. Lamar Alexander.

Groves says Romney has a good shot of winning the GOP primary in Tennessee because of the key supporters he appears to have already locked up.

Looking out on the crowd, the faces looking back were the faces that regularly pick the right horse in Tennessee. Romney is the Washington outsider who can raise enough money to shake charges that he isn't socially conservative enough. Sound familar? It should, that's the strategy that worked for Bob Corker.

Well said.

Also reporting on Romney's visit to Nashville: A.C. Kleinheider at VolunteerVoters.com, who has a two YouTube clips (one, two) from his co-interview of Romney alongside a local Nashville TV reporter. Read Kleinheider's blog post here.

Related: Read Romney, channeling Reagan, reveals economic agenda, by columnist Donald Lambro.