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SALT LAKE CITY -- Mitt Romney is preparing for a more prominent presence on the national scene with a new book coming out next spring. Tickets go on sale next week for a major book event in downtown Salt Lake City in March.
One year since the presidential election ended, Romney is stepping up his profile with national TV appearances, newspaper Op-Eds, fundraising for fellow Republicans and a new book called "No Apology: The Case for America's Greatness."
The book comes out March 2. One of the first events in a national book tour will be at the Salt Palace March 13 -- a book signing and lecture hosted by the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics.
Kirk Jowers, a long-time Romney backer, is its director.
"We hope to have about 10,000 people. Everyone that comes to the event will get a first edition signed copy," he says.
The themes he seems likely to write about are already apparent. At an event earlier this month in Provo, Romney said the policies of the president, including the federal stimulus, had made the recession worse, and that the government needed to stop scaring the private sector with takeovers.
Jowers says the book will offer ideas about turning around a nation some see as in a decline.
"I think he sees the danger. I think he's very optimistic and thinks we're not at that precipice necessarily -- we can continue to ascend -- but I think he sees some very dangerous fault lines," he says.
When it was suggested two weeks ago he sounded like he's running, Romney told us, "No, I sound like I'm working hard for good Republican candidates across the country."
However, with other top Republicans like Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee confronting recent troubles and the economy top of mind, Romney seems poised for another shot.
"If you're a Romney fan, I think everything has broken his way so far," says Jowers.
The website MittRomneyUtah goes live and tickets go on sale this Thursday at 10 a.m.
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
