Though Mitt Romney may be out of the presidential race, he's still keeping active politically, campaigning recently for John McCain. But it's Romney's son, Josh, that has been generating headlines lately in Utah, leaving some in the state wondering whether he might have a political future himself one day.

 

Just last week, Josh Romney, 32, made an appearance at the Cache County Republican Convention in Logan. He not only entertained the audience, but seemingly struck a chord when discussing Republican ideals.

 

Admittedly, it was Josh Romney's first "political speech" since his father withdrew from the presidential race in February after a poor Super Tuesday showing.

 

For the past year, Josh had been on the campaign trail for his dad. It was a lot of work, especially since he got railroaded into visiting all 99 counties in Iowa.

 

That's what his mom once told an audience in the state, and the son obliged.

 

"She got up there and she said, 'You know, my son, Josh, is here with me, and he's gonna visit every county in Iowa,'" Romney recounted. "She kind of turned around and smiled, and I smiled back. And the press was there; they wrote it down."

 

One of Romney's lessons on the campaign trail, he says, was learning not to drive an RV on a class B road after a rainstorm. He ended up getting stuck in the mud in the middle of a corn field. After calling three tow truck companies with no success, finally a farmer arrived on the scene and pulled him out with a John Deere tractor.

 

"He came out and gave me a big handshake, and he told me he was voting for somebody else," Romney chuckled. "At least he was willing to pull me out."

 

Romney resonated well with the crowd, echoing many of the themes his father used in his presidential bid — stressing the need for a stronger economy, stronger military and stronger families. Having heard Mitt Romney speak at campaign events before, I was surprised at just how similar Josh sounded to his dad, both in style and substance.

 

"It's hard to do anything without a strong economy," he said. "We've got to lower our spending in Washington. We've got to cut taxes in Washington. We've got to focus on becoming energy independent. It's unacceptable that we're sending billions and billions of dollars to Iran and Venezuela and countries that hate us, and that they control ... financial markets out here."

 

Last month, Josh Romney decided against mounting his own political campaign this year. He had been pondering a run against U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-UT.

 

"I'm pretty young, but I've had good experience on the campaign trail," Romney told the Deseret News then.

 

Ultimately, he expressed a desire to spend time with his family instead, noting getting into his own race would have been too soon after his father's race had ended.

 

But Josh Romney is still leaving the door open to a future run in the political sphere.

 

"I'm excited about becoming more involved myself in the political process and doing something at some point," he said. "I'm not sure when. It may never happen. But I do think it's important that I share my opinions about this country."