Mitt Romney set out his optimistic vision of a “New American Dream” on Tuesday in a speech laden with 50 references to “America”, as he became the latest Republican to officially declare his ambitions for the 2008 presidency.

Although Mr Romney is the former governor of Massachusetts, he picked Dearborn, Michigan, in the politically powerful heartland to launch his bid. Speaking at the Henry Ford Museum in front of a shiny Ford Escape Hybrid SUV, a classic Nash Rambler and an old DC-3 airliner, he exploited his Mid-western roots and the legacy of his father, George, who was a popular governor of Michigan in the 1960s and made an aborted run at the White House in 1968.