US election: Mitt Romney scrambles to find school friends who say he was not a bully Philip Maxwell, one of five classmates who recounted the incident to the Washington Post, said it was "difficult to believe" Mr Romney did not remember what happened. "It's unfortunate that Mitt simply hasn't owned up to his behaviour," he told CNN. The disclosure cast the Republican challenger in an unfavourable light just a day after President Barack Obama said that he supported same-sex marriage. Mr Lauber died of liver cancer in 2004. His family reacted angrily to his central role in a political row. "If he were still alive today, he would be furious," his older sister Christine told an interviewer. Mr Romney had some reason to be cheerful on Friday however, as a new poll by Rasmussen found that he was up 50 per cent to 43 per cent on Mr Obama in a survey of likely voters. The result was the first time he has hit 50 per cent in the daily poll. Another sister, Betsy, said: "We are aggrieved that he would be used to further a political agenda." Mr Romney will on Saturday attempt to shift focus to his support for traditional American families, in a speech to students graduating from the ultraconservative Liberty University in Virginia - further distancing himself from Mr Obama's liberal pronouncements this week. "I have never once regretted missing any experience or opportunity in business in order to be with my wife and five sons," the grandfather of 18 is expected to say. Regrets usually come the other way around, from missing moments with your children that don't come again.