US:Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, hoping to become the first Mormon president in American history.
The 59-year-old former venture capitalist is less well known than rivals John McCain and Rudy Giuliani, but he is a prodigious fundraiser, and has already won more endorsements from congressional representatives than any other Republican candidate.
He is running for president after just four years in elected office, seeking to position himself as a social and fiscal conservative and a foreign policy hawk.
At his formal campaign launch at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, yesterday, Mr Romney made a virtue of his lack of political experience, suggesting that "lifetime politicians" could not change Washington.
"There have been too many deals, too many favours, too many entanglements - and too little real-world experience managing, guiding, leading. I don't believe Washington can be transformed by someone who has never tried doing such a thing before, in any setting; by someone who has never run a corner store, let alone the largest enterprise in the world," he said.
The son of former Michigan governor George Romney, Mr Romney came to national prominence in 2002 when he stepped in to save the Salt Lake City winter Olympics after a bribery scandal threatened to derail the games. After an unsuccessful challenge for Edward Kennedy's senate seat in 1994, Mr Romney was elected governor of Massachusetts in 2002, running as a moderate Republican in one of the country's most liberal states.
His record as governor was impressive. He introduced universal healthcare and eliminated a $3 billion (€2.3 billion) budget deficit without raising taxes, although Democrat Deval Patrick regained the governorship in November.
In an attempt to woo Christian conservatives, an important constituency in Republican primaries, Mr Romney has retreated from formerly liberal positions on abortion and gay rights.
"I believe the family is the foundation of America and that we must fight to protect and strengthen it. I believe in the sanctity of human life. I believe that people and their elected representatives should make our laws, not unelected judges," he said.
Some social conservatives have expressed scepticism about Mr Romney's change of heart, recalling that he told a gay rights group in 1994 that he would be more liberal than Mr Kennedy on gay issues.
A USA Today/Gallup poll suggested yesterday that Mr Romney's Mormon faith could be a greater problem for voters than Hillary Clinton's gender or Barack Obama's race. The poll showed that just 72 per cent of voters say they would vote for a qualified nominee who is Mormon, compared with 94 per cent for a black nominee and 88 per cent for a woman.