Ann Romney In Charleston as 'Surrogate'

NORTH CHARLESTON - Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate and former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney, was in town Wednesday to speak to the Charleston County Republican Women's Club at North Charleston City Hall.

"This is her first campaign event, first in the nation for her," Romney Campaign S.C. State Director David Raad said. "We chose South Carolina because it's so important."

Raad said the notion that Gov. Romney is avoiding or ignoring South Carolina is just flat-out wrong.

"She's probably the best surrogate for the the Governor that there is," Raad said.

Ann Romney has traveled through South Carolina before. She campaigned with her husband here when he ran for president in 2008.

"It's all been positive, it's all been people like this," Romney said referring to the group she spoke to Wednesday. "They're old friends you get to see again. We made many friends last time."

Ann Romney said the key to campaigning is to stay positive and "keep building on what we've already done."

"You learn a lot any time you go through any experience," she said.

Candidate Romney had a hard time winning over South Carolina voters in 2008 though and lost the state to eventual nominee Sen. John McCain. Questions remain whether conservative Christian voters will vote for a candidate of the Mormon faith, but Ann Romney said that so far religion has not been an issue in the campaign.

Romney met earlier Wednesday with Republican groups in Bluffton, just outside of Beaufort. She is heading to Myrtle Beach for another event Thursday, Raad said.

Romney began her remarks with the story of being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1998, just before her husband was tapped to lead the Salt Lake City Olympics. 

"It was tough news," she said. "Around that time the Salt Lake Olympics were in dire straits, and they were falling apart and they needed someone to come in and basically turn around the Olympics. That's when they called Mitt, who was known as sort of a turn-around specialist.

"Someone actually called me and I knew then in my heart, right away that we had to go do it."

While Mitt Romney was working on the Olympic campaign, Ann Romney was recovering and getting stronger. The torchbearers for the games were made up of people nominated because they were somone's hero, and Mitt Romey nominated his wife to carry the torch into Salt Lake.

She said the way he stuck by her shows what kind of a man he is and that he will make a great president.

"We're on an extraordinary journey right now, I feel the same way about it as I did when we went to Salt Lake, we're jumping off a cliff without a parachute and we'll see what's going to happen," Romney said.