Romney sequestered in Vermont for debate prep

WEST WINDSOR, Vt. — Obama-Biden signs dot the back roads of Vermont, a state that has voted for a Democratic president since 1988. And yet, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has chosen a friend’s home in rural Vermont to hunker down to prepare for next month’s presidential debates.

Presidential candidates in the past have chosen their homes or battleground states for debate preparation. Not Romney — and his timing is unusual, too. Candidates usually spend the week of Labor Day campaigning heavily in battleground states.

Romney is staying largely out of the spotlight as President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party hold their convention in Charlotte, N.C.

Romney’s advisers say he was looking for the distraction-free quiet of Vermont’s Green Mountains. He’s practicing at the mansion of former Massachusetts Gov. Kerry Healey.