Mitt Romney is not a stuffy corporate CEO--there's a little part of him that's like a messy-haired teenage girl. "I like the Twilight series. I thought it was fun," Romney said on NBC's Today show Tuesday. Does he like vampires? "I don't like vampires personally, I don't know any but you know my granddaughter was reading it and I thought, well this looks like fun so I read that." He watches American Idol and rooted for Scotty. As for music, the likely presidential candidate named the Beatles, some of the greatest tween icons of all time. "I mean, the Beatles were phenomenal," he said. He has both an iPad and an iPhone (no need for an iPod anymore). And when he's really mad, he might say "damn" or "hell" "from time to time." His wife, Ann, explained that he's not the uptight guy the media has portrayed: "The little glimpses that you get are not really accurate … They don't see him as a casual guy that he is and most of the time his hair really is messed up."

Update: Romney actually met Twilight star Robert Pattinson in 2010 backstage at The View, and, as you can see in this photo from the Boston Globe, the former governor is absolutely melting inside. This tells us two important things about Romney: One, he has not adopted his fandom merely to broaden his appeal on the campaign trail, and two, he is solidly Team Edward.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at ereeve at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Elspeth Reeve