Romney Returns to Iowa, Forgets Wallet

ABC News’ Matt Stuart Reports: Former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., returned to Iowa Wednesday, and found himself in a bit of an awkward moment while stopping at a coffee shop during a tour of the town of DeWitt, Iowa with the town’s mayor. 

Romney, who reported assets between $190 and $250 million earlier this year, discovered he didn’t have his wallet and did not have enough money to pay for his vanilla steamer — which Romney explained was steamed milk with vanilla flavoring — as well as the mayor’s drink. 

"I’ve only got three [dollars] in this pocket.  I left my wallet in the car," Romney said before an aide approached. "Here comes Will … look at this he’s gonna give me a five.  Thanks."

The trip was his first in Iowa in over a month, and the first in the Quad Cities area since before the Ames Straw Poll in August.

From his surfer and surfboard patterned tie, to jokes about his ’08 Republican rival former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, R-N.Y., Romney’s attitude seemed relaxed.

When a cell phone rang at the beginning of a campaign event in Clinton, Iowa, Romney mocked Giuliani’s now famous cell-phone conversation with his wife during a speech to the National Rifle Association. "Is that Judith for me?" joked Romney. "I don’t think so.  Tell her I’ll call her back."

Romney also targeted front-running Democratic candidate, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., telling the audience, "you’re gonna see these polls day after day.  They’re gonna keep showing Hillary Clinton at 46 or 47 percent.  But she’s not gonna get higher than that.  People know her.  They’ve decided who she is."  Romney continued, "she’s not gonna get to 50.1%. I am."

He also suggested he isn’t backing down on his claim that he represents conservative values after he faced considerable criticism last week from GOP candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. 

"Strong Military. Strong Families. Strong Economy …that’s the position of the Republican party, the conservative [position], and if I’m the candidate, I’m gonna be fighting on all three legs of that Republican stool," he said.

Romney emphasized the importance of Iowa to his presidential bid, saying Iowa voters get "to know something about the heart and the character of the people running for president" rather than "just making a decision based on 30 seconds of TV advertising." 

His comment was ironic because Romney is the only Republican candidate running television ads in Iowa so far.

In response to a question about the Kyoto Protocol global climate change treaty that the U.S. has refused to sign, Romney appeared to side with President Bush. "Kyoto was a bad idea by the time it was finished."  He said the plan put restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions on some countries but not others.

"They don’t call it America warming.  They call it global warming," Romney said, arguing that if the U.S. were to sign onto the global treaty, energy intensive industries would take their operations and their jobs to countries like China.

"You can’t believe how dirty it is there," Romney continued, saying Beijing is "like the worst day in Los Angeles everyday."

Romney was cautious in his support of Massachusetts’ healthcare plan. 

When asked if that plan could work for the United States, Romney stated, "It could," but said that his health care plan emphasized that states make their own plan.  He later emphasized to one woman that "everybody in our state gets health insurance," but that the they don’t get it from the government. 

The Massachusetts plan mandates that all residents get insurance, which has drawn the ire of some conservatives.

Romney also said that he would be unveiling a 12 point plan to "strengthen American families" when he speaks to the Family Research Council on Friday.