Romney fundraising effort brings out 800 to work phone lines at convention center

About 800 people dialed for dollars in the Las Vegas Convention Center on Monday and helped raise $10.25 million for Mitt Romney's presidential exploratory committee, the vehicle he is using to raise money for an expected run at the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

"It's more than just a start. It really gives us the boost that we needed at this early stage," Romney said. "This is one of the early states in the presidential contest and we want to show our intention and interest in Nevada."

The former Massachusetts governor and successful businessman spent time on the convention center floor in the morning, greeting supporters and at times taking their phone calls to deliver his pitch personally.

Later in the day, he met with a dozen UNLV students to discuss the economy and the job outlook for people getting ready to graduate from college.

Romney has been aggressively raising money for a campaign that hasn't officially started yet and hopes to emerge from the fundraising quarter that ends June 30 having far out-raised his rivals.

Such financial fortitude could help him persuade Republicans to choose him to challenge President Barack Obama. The Democrat shattered fundraising records in 2008 and could raise as much as $1 billion for his re-election campaign.

The student meeting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas was arranged by the school's Republican club, and each student had an economic concern -- they either needed a job, had family members who had lost jobs or businesses, or were worried about finding employment after graduation and paying student loans.

Jessica Cybulski, who was close to being a senior when she left school to take a full-time office job, was laid off at the beginning of the year and has worked part time as a temp since.

Her mother has also been laid off, making her income the only one for the household, and she is paying off student loans at the same time.

"I think Mitt's a pretty solid candidate," she said. "It's definitely a 'better than Obama' situation."

She criticized the president's health care bill. While it allowed people to stay on their parents' insurance until they are 26, which students like, Cybulski said it also raised her mother's insurance premiums -- at least it did when she had a job.

Another student, Ashkaan Kouhpa, campaigned for Obama in 2008 even though he was too young to vote then. The business/economics major has turned against the president, though, because the economy is still sluggish.

"Half of it is Obama's fault, and half of it is Bush's," he said. "(Romney) knows a lot about the economy. He knows how to create jobs. Better than Obama, in my opinion."

Like Obama, one of Romney's signature accomplishments as governor was health care reform, and Massachusetts' version also included the mandate to purchase insurance that has been much derided in the federal law.

Romney has chosen to walk a fine line by not criticizing his accomplishment while also not endorsing it as a solution for other states.

"Each state is going to have a different experience with their own health care setting," he said. "My view is we did the right thing in Massachusetts for the people that I was elected to serve.

"I wouldn't begin to say that what we did in Massachusetts should be applied in every single state. We vest authority in states to do what's necessary to meet the needs of people in different states."

The people making calls for Romney on Monday came from many different states. One supporter on hand was Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay who ran unsuccessfully for governor of California.

"Nevada is a crucial state for, ultimately, Mitt Romney to win the nomination," she said. "He will be here a lot."

Whitman also doubted that any other potential Republican candidate could pull together a similar fundraising event.

"This is an extraordinary event," she said. "Eight hundred people have come from all over the country to get on the phone and do the hard work."

During his 2008 run for the GOP nomination, Romney used more than $40 million of his own money to pay for campaigns in Iowa and New Hampshire. Victories there never materialized, and Romney ended up losing the nomination to Sen. John McCain.

Romney declined Monday to discuss how much of his own money he is willing to spend this time around.

He launched his 2008 bid with a phone bank fundraiser in Boston in which he and 400 supporters raised more than $6.5 million.

That event was open to reporters, but Romney's camp was much more guarded this time. Aides only allowed photographers into the phone bank room and said interviews with callers would be too disruptive.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.