Romney Set to Face Challenge From Right

It's a big front-page story at the Wall Street Journal.

It's gated, but click through at Google for the text sample.

Turns out that Romney's signature claim to free-enterprise fame --- his turnaround of the the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics --- in fact relied heavily on federal subsidies. And apparently tea party activists have made the federal backing for the Olympics an issue in recent campaigns:

The Salt Lake Games got more federal cash than any previous U.S. Olympics. A review of lobbying records shows the Games hired 16 lobbyists from five firms for nearly $4 million. Mr. Romney was at the center of the effort, according to federal, local and Olympics officials. Among other things, Washington helped pay for a wider Interstate 15, a light-rail system in Salt Lake City and University of Utah housing.

Many projects were approved before Mr. Romney's arrival, but he was instrumental in securing much of the funding, say officials involved. "We were both working it pretty hard," said Deedee Corradini, Salt Lake City's then-Democratic mayor.

Federal backing for the Games tripped former Republican Utah Rep. Merrill Cook when he ran for the U.S. Senate last year. Tea-party activists blasted his Olympics work. He lost in the GOP primary, as did sitting Republican Sen. Robert Bennett, who was also involved in the lobbying. Sen. Bennett said he didn't expect the Olympics to be an issue. "It's too old. It can't be held against him," he said.

Mr. Cook wasn't so sure: "Having run a very successful Olympics, being credited with all that may not go over very well with the Tea Party crowd."

More at those links above.

I'm not so sure federal backing for the Olympics is the biggest issue with which to hammer Romney. Seems like the case could be made for the Olympics as a sort of public good, and public/private partnerships in professional and world class athletics aren't at all unusual. But we'll see how it all plays out.

RELATE: That's the new Romney web ad at top, via William Jacobson, "All In All We're Just Another Bump In The Road."

Also, at Gallup, "Romney Support Up; Widens Advantage in 2012 Preferences" (via Memeorandum).