AP PHOTO/CHARLES DHARAPAK
THREE DAYS IN
OCTOBER
I had just arrived from the airport, and as we talked over our
late dinner in the middle of the
lounge, a young child on the other
side of the expansive lobby started
crying. Madden glanced over. “I’d
give just about anything to have
some screaming kids right now,”
he said.
Others on the Romney campaign were milling about as well.
They seemed to be in good spirits,
despite Romney’s bad poll numbers. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio),
senior Romney adviser Stuart
HUFFINGTON
11.04.12
Stevens and Austin Barbour, Stevens’ deputy, walked over to Madden and me. Barbour was quietly
confident that Romney would perform well in the debate the next
evening. Portman, who played
President Barack Obama in debate
preparation with Romney, told a
story about the time he saw President George W. Bush take a nasty
spill while mountain-biking at his
ranch in Texas, but then rebuke
aides who rushed to his side and
tried to put his bike on the back of
a truck. Bush got back on the bike
and finished the ride. Perhaps it
was an analogy for what he hoped
Romney would do the next night.
Advisers to
Mitt Romney,
Kevin
Madden,
right, and
Ed Gillespie,
listen as their
candidate
addresses
reporters at
a campaign
stop in North
Las Vegas.