Mitt Romney turns to wife Ann to show his ‘other side’

At times over the course of his 2012 campaign, Mitt Romney’s (sometimes corny) jokes have fallen flat on the voters that he’s trying to win over. But as his comfort and confidence as a candidate have grown, he isn’t afraid of trying — and his introduction with his wife, Ann, at Monday’s first event here could have been described as the “Mitt and Ann Show.”

The former Massachusetts governor arrived in New Hampshire just as new state preference polls showed him leading his opponents by double digits. After being introduced by former U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, whom he described as a fiscal conservative, Romney introduced Ann.

“I have someone with me today who would rarely be introduced by my sons as a fiscal conservative, but it’s my wife, Ann,” he said to laughter.

“Oh — now that’s a first, but I’ll remember that,” his wife replied as she took the microphone. “He’s in trouble now.”

“Nothing new,” Romney responded in a sing-song tone.

Before describing her husband’s role as the father of five sons and the spouse who supported her as she dealt with her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, Ann Romney recalled the 2008 campaign when he lost to Republican nominee John McCain.

“One thing I knew for sure after the last run,” Ann Romney told the audience of several hundred people at a VFW hall here, “I was never going to do this again. But here I am. Mitt reminds me that I said that after each pregnancy and I am the mother of five boys.”

In a more serious tone, she noted that her role on the campaign was to show voters “the other side of Mitt, which you might not all get to see.”

Her husband, to laughter, turned on his heel and showed his backside to the audience.

Ann paused. “Oh dear,” she said with a sigh.

maeve.reston@latimes.com