Mitt Romney Impersonator Mike Cote Profiled By UK's #2 Newspaper The Daily Mail

Millions of Americans on both sides of the aisle are hanging their hopes on the outcome of the November presidential election, but few have as much riding on Mitt Romney's victory as one drywall hanger from New Hampshire.

Mike Cote, of Ogunquit, has been blessed with facial features that closely resemble those of the Republican presidential hopeful, especially when enhanced with makeup and a dab of white dye on his sideburns.

The 57-year-old construction worker and aspiring comedian has already taken advantage of his looks, starring in former Republican candidate Rick Santorum's 'Rombo' ad that appeared during the primaries.

Most recently, Cote appeared on the cover of The Atlantic magazine, sparring with a President Obama impersonator in a boxing match.

'If [Romney] wins the presidency, I might have a new career,' Cote told the Portland Press Herald.

The Romney doppelganger told the paper in an interview that he knows an Obama lookalike who earned more than $500,000 last year, while it’s been rumored that The Tonight Show host Jay Leno paid a George W. Bush impersonator $2,000 a week just for being on standby.

Cote has been practicing his stiff Romney walk, straight-armed wave and characteristic smirking, but he has been unable so far to capture the former Massachusetts governor's intonation and has to remind himself to pronounce his R's.

The blue-collar drywall hanger is now represented by Dustin Gold, a Washington-based talent agent who has a slew of political lookalikes in his stable, including two Sarah Palins and the original Bill Clinton impersonator.

The impresario discovered the Romney double after coming across a few YouTube videos Cote had made when the candidate was campaigning in the 2008 primary.

Gold reached out to Cote last December and shortly after took the 57-year-old aspiring performer to New York city, where he met with a makeup artist who showed him how to apply white dye to his sideburns and use mascara to darken his eyebrows.

'I knew my life changed,' he said.

The drywall specialist-turned-impersonator also met with a renowned voice coach to help him sound more like Romney, but he has not shown a knack for impressions.

But even limited to silent roles, Cote has already made 20 appearances as Romney, including on Fox News and in a staged fight with an Obama lookalike in New York City.

To get Cote to appear at an event disguises as the Republican nominee could cost anywhere between $1,500 and $5,000, 60 per cent of which goes to his booking agent. 

The 57-year-old was set to appear at events in Boca Raton, Florda, during last week's presidential debate, but the plans fell through in the last minute.

When he is not wearing makeup or his pinstripe Brooks Brothers suit, Cote's resemblance to Romney is not as obvious, but he says that he looks like the original enough to get stopped on the street.

Even if Romney loses the November 6 vote, it may not necessarily spell the end of Cote's career as a political impersonator.

He said that only recently, a woman on the street told him he looks like Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown.