Romney lookalike finds new career

OGUNQUIT, Mass., July 17 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts man bearing a resemblance to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney says he hopes to make a new career as an impersonator.

Mike Cote, 56, of Ogunquit, said he appeared as Romney in a video for the Rick Santorum campaign and appeared in an unaired reality TV show about political impersonators living together in a house, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Cote said he is hoping to parlay his experiences into a career impersonating Romney, but he is having trouble deepening his voice and getting rid of his thick New England accent.

"I have to lose the 'paahk the caah in the Hahvahd Yahd' and be more 'park the car in the Harvard Yard,'" Cote said. "I can own this whole thing. All I have to do is get the voice close and I own it."

"We're going to be crazy busy once I get the voice down. Guys like [former Arkansas Gov. Mike] Huckabee are just waiting for me to come on their show," Cote said.

Dustin Gold, Cote's manager, said there are many hurdles ahead for his client.

"This is going to be a challenge," Gold said. "We're taking a drywaller, trying to turn him into a country club guy."

Cote said he is hoping his impersonation career takes off so he can help his daughter, a single mother, and his mother, who is struggling with cancer.