Romney speaks at NEA conference?

Imagine my delight when (a few days late, but still) I learned that NEA had just held its first "conference for Republican members" in Minneapolis -- and that the only GOP presidential candidate who showed up was my guy, Mitt Romney.

All right, so Romney just happened to be in the hotel at a fund raiser on Aug. 3, when NEA enforcers persuaded him to come downstairs and say a few words at a reception -- still, it seemed promising.

NEA put out nothing on the event -- no speeches on their website, no transcripts, nothing. I couldn't find any media coverage other than this, so I queried NEA and eventually got Randall Moody, their manager of federal advocacy, on the phone.

You know what's coming, right?

"There wasn't any policy discussion from him on any issue," Moody said. "We asked him to come in and say a few words and he did -- he said education was important and teachers are important, that sort of thing. He didn't talk any policy."

This is going to be a long year....