From CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser

 

(CNN) — Mitt Romney is lending a helping hand to Nebraska Republicans, the latest in a string of political favors as the 2008 presidential candidate surveys the 2012 landscape.

 

The former Massachusetts governor will be the keynote speaker Friday night at the Nebraska Republican Party's biennial Founders' Day event in Omaha.

 

Romney may make another run at the GOP presidential nomination next cycle, but an adviser says right now the former Massachusetts governor's concentrating on helping fellow Republicans in the next election.

 

"Gov. Romney is traveling the country, speaking to Republican organizations, raising money for candidates, and doing what he can to strengthen our party going into the 2010 elections," says Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom.

 

 

Romney has been a vocal critic of President Barack Obama, particularly his handling of foreign relations. At the recent Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference on Mackinac Island, Michigan, Romney said that the president is "above" the world stage and acting too much as a "neutral arbiter."