Mitt Romney: The Interview

So after spending a long day campaigning in Iowa with Mitt Romney, I was struck by a couple of things: First, the number of people who came out to see him even now, a full year before the caucuses. There were a couple hundred people in both Waterloo and Dubuque–for a candidate with low name recognition at this point in the race. There’s clearly a lot of buzz around this guy right now.

And there’s something else. This winter, Iowa is burning with presidential political fever–in both parties. Veteran activists and reporters find it striking just how tuned in so many Iowans are to the race at this point, how intense the game’s already gotten. This early enthusiasm for the presidential race might stem from many factors–the wide-open nature of this coming contest, the sense many people have that the country’s off course somehow–but it also seems to me it’s a sign the Bush era is over. Even for many Republicans, the president is a such a thoroughly known quantity–a man who will not surprise anyone and whose course is set in stone–that there is a palpable sense the time has come to look forward. Eagerly.

The other thing that struck me is Mitt Romney himself: He is personable and smart. He’s done his homework. He takes tough questions without blinking and dodges them like a member of the great Average Joe’s ‘s squad–just as all top politicians do these days. And he’s already got what seems to be a crackerjack team on the ground. Watch for him; he’s a real contender.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the sit-down interview I had with him. You can see it on ABC News’ World News Sunday, Good Morning America on Monday, and a of course a full report on Nightline Monday night.

I’ll be blogging more about it later.

ON PRESIDENT BUSH:

Moran:  “Would you describe yourself as a Bush Republican?”

Romney: “I describe myself as a conservative who I hope will be thought of as a thinking conservative. And that means I don’t just knee jerk react to every issue that comes up. I’m a little different than other folks. I don’t think anyone can be pigeon holed in one particular bucket or another–if you pardon the mix of metaphors. I’ve said, allow people to understand who I am, understand my perspective on issues. Understand where I stand, understand my principles and values and then they can decide whether that’s for them or not.”

Moran:  “So one of the issues before voters will be President Bush’s leadership. Grade him.”

Romney: “Well I don’t give grades to anybody, including myself.”

Moran:  “But that is an issue.  How well has he done?”

Romney: “Well, when I look at President Bush, I respect that he is a man of character and conviction. I don’t believe for a minute those people who ascribe ulterior motives, or say he’s not telling the truth. I think he’s done as well as he believes he can possibly do and he’s done it out of a compassion for this country and a belief that what he is doing is right for America….Has he made any mistakes? Of course, he’s a human being. Clearly our conduct with the conflict in Iraq has not been something which has been perfect. Part of the problem that we face today is a result of the mistakes that we’ve made over the last three years. That being said, our president is a person who is doing his very best, listening to his advisors, and doing whatever he can to help the American people.”

ON IRAQ:

Moran: "Was it the right thing for the United States to invade Iraq?"

Romney: "Well I supported the president at the time. He indicated that based on intelligence we had weapons of mass destruction as a threat to this land. He proposed a solution and I supported it. And I’m not going back and trying to second guess that. I don’t have the data or the inside sources to suggest doing that."

Moran: "We have a lot of data now though.  Would you, knowing what we know now, have supported an invasion against Iraq?"

Romney: "I’ll go back and say again, I wouldn’t make a decision like that without extensive data and analysis, and without the input of a lot of different people. Putting Americas men and women in harms way has to follow a process which has a very high bar to clear. And im not gonna try and go back and look at that particular conflict. But I can tell you what I’d do now. And, that is that, as long as there’s a pathway to success, we ought to pursue that. If the pathway gets closed off and there’s no visible way of achieving our success then you go to plan B. But plan A is to try and achieve a success….But that’s far from being a certain thing. And it may not even be a high probability. But as long as there’s a reasonable probability of success, it’s something you have to pursue. And if you reach a point where milestones aren’t being met, and there’s no prospect of success, then and only then do you consider any other options."

Moran: "So you’d be prepared as president to pull the troops out even if there was no success in Iraq?"

Romney: "I’m not going to describe scenarios I don’t want to think about. We are where we are today."

ON BEING A MORMON

Moran: “You’re a Mormon. Would you describe yourself as a devout Mormon, a true believer?”

Romney: “Absolutely. I’m proud of my faith, part of my heritage. I think the American people respect individuals of faith. That’s the kind of people want to lead the country. I don’t think they get into doctrines and if you will the periphery of a faith. My faith has made me a better person than I would have been otherwise…

Moran:  “You may be the most serious Mormon candidate for president the country has ever had, and a lot of Americans don’t know much about the faith–at some point polygamy was involved, et cetera. Is that a hurdle for you?”

Romney: “I think people are going to not spend a lot of time looking at a religion of a candidate. Everytime I consider our history of the nation, I look back at someone like John F. Kennedy, people thought his faith was going to be an issue that just got overwhelmed by the differences and the perspective and character and viewpoints and issues. When I ran for governor of Mass. At the beginning people said gosh what do you think about his religion? And that was quickly brushed aside and the real issues because the central focus. I think the same thing will happen at the national level. After all I subscribe to what Abraham Lincoln called American’s political religion. That is you abide by the constitution and the rule of law. And when you take the oath of office, that’s your highest responsibility.”

Moran:  “I don’t want to press you on this. As people get to know you and get to know your faith they may have questions…for example, like do you believe that the garden of Eden was in Missouri  and that Jesus Christ’s Second Coming will be there. Or that God has a physical body? Do you expect those questions? How would you handle them?”

Romney: “I don’t expect those questions. What I expect people to do is to say there are differences between faith, theology is different, but we don’t judge a candidate based on the theology of the religion they grew up in. my family’s heritage is in our faith and I’m proud of that. But I’m not going to go through and cafeteria style talk about each doctrine, and which I accept. That’s not the nature of a campaign. As Dr. Richard Lance said, I’m not running for pastor in chief. And the differences between faith really aren’t what’s critical. Instead I look at the commonality of faith. And in our faith, like the other faiths in this land, we try and serve others with compassion. We believe in a divine creator. We believe in the family nature of humankind, we believe in marriage, and devotion to our spouse, and to our kids.”