Mitt Romney/Associate Press photo

If you believe you should be president, typically you are extremely self-confident and able to dream big. Well, Republican Mitt Romney must have both qualities in spades. Invitations went out to today for a Sept. 30 appearance by Romney here in the Valley to raise money for his Free and Strong America PAC. Romney is offering tickets from $300 to $3,000 for a noon luncheon at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Romney is not trying to fill a meeting room or a luxury box, but the entire baseball stadium! Blogger Bill Wyman noted that a sell-out (at $3,000 for each seat) would raise $15 million.

Renting out Chase Field for a political fundraiser might be overly optimistic. Romney has strong political support in Arizona, including Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, state Senate Majority Leader Chuck Gray, R-Mesa, and Mesa real estate developer Wilford Cardon. But this state didn’t figure that prominently in Romney fundraising during the 2008 campaign.

However, Romney hopes to capitalize on his strong, second place finish in the 2008 Arizona presidential primary to home state hero John McCain. Arizona’s senior senator won’t be a factor in 2012, while Romney has been preparing for that race from the day that Barack Obama was declared last year’s winner.

Posted in: Election issues • Presidential campaign • 2012 elections • Chase Field • Chuck Gray • Joe Arpaio • John McCain • Mitt Romney • Wilford Cardon |

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