OK, so it was presidential candidate George Romney. And it was in 1968.

The father of Mitt was flown to Olympia Airport courtesy of a Weyerhaeuser Company plane and taken to the Tyee Motor Inn to address Thurston and Mason County Republicans as part of his presidential campaign and also as a fundraiser for the local party. The date was Feb. 24, 1968.

The legendary Tyee used to sit about where the extreme northern end of Fred Meyer is today in Tumwater.

Anyway, for the press, Romney spoke in platitudes about the war in Vietnam and crime in America. I remember one of the rich kids in school brought snapshots his father had taken of the event. Back then, before the Republicans became the Party of Populist Christians and Corporate Rich White Men, it was the simply the Party of Corporate Rich White Men. Many of the future "Reagan Democrats" were supporting segregationist and states' rights supporter George Wallace's third party bid in 1968. In school, when we split up by party in mock conventions, the Republican kids, with their neatly parted hair and new clothes, would politely sit and manage their meetings in an orderly fashion. They were in the minority. The rest of us kids, acting as Democrats, fought and bickered as we wiped our noses with the sleeves of our hand-me-down clothes. Not unlike our adult counterparts.

George Romney had made his name as the boss of the American Motors Corporation and the success of a throw-away car us old guys remember called the Rambler. There is a reason you don't see many of them on the road any more. But it was affordable. And Romney used his fame to get elected Governor of Michigan, which was the office he was holding in 1968 when he visited Tumwater.

Back then, as now, the Mormon faith of a Romney running for President was frequently mentioned. But as I recall, the fact George Romney was born in Mexico to American parents was also an issue. Section 1 of Article II of the Constitution states, "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."

Just what "natural born" exactly means has never been put to the test. John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone, but somehow I don't think he is going to make it far enough to present us with a test case.

Mitt Romney, being the son of George, is really the product of the old Party of Corporate Rich White Men without the Populist Christians. He is trying hard to play catch-up. He has lots of money to spend on advertising. It just might work. And since the Democrats have an amazing talent for screwing up election after election, Mitt is not someone to underestimate. When it comes to personal family values, Mitt has Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani beat to Hell. And don't think that drum won't be beaten when the Republican primaries begin.

So, back to 1968. This is from the Daily Olympian 2/25/68: "Romney said he knows he is 'an underdog' with 'an uphill road' in the New Hampshire campaign where former vice-president Richard Nixon is also entered. But he noted that Nixon, without mentioning his name, has not had his own 'spread of experience.' He drew a round of applause when he said 'it is time to give the U.S. back to the people.' He added that he believes his underdog role is changing as he meets more people in his campaign in New Hampshire. 'I am encouraged when people tell me I am much different that what they have been led to believe by the press.' That brought more applause."

On Feb. 28, 1968, four days after visiting Tumwater, Gov. Romney dropped out of the race.