Q&A: MITT ROMNEY
Transcript: Romney On Iran, Bush's Leadership & More

© National Journal Group Inc.
Friday, Sept. 28, 2007

National Journal's Linda Douglass sat down with former Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney for the debut edition of "National Journal On Air." This is a transcript of their conversation.

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Q: I want to start by asking you about the very unusual message that you've been delivering to your fellow Republicans in the primary: You've been telling Republicans that it is time to get their house in order. You've been talking spending excess, immigration and ethics. What do you think has caused your party to go off track?

Romney: There's nothing like having a lot of power and anticipating that you're going to keep it forever. My dad used to say that there's nothing as vulnerable as entrenched success. And my dad said some members of our party began to think we would be in charge forever and began fall prey to some of the excesses that Democrats have long be subject to, which is overspending and earmarking, and some of the problems associated with power, which is unethical conduct. So you've seen that from both parties, and it's something we cannot accept in the Republican Party.

Q: Among the things that you mentioned were things that you've been critical of and happened during the Bush administration -- the handling of Katrina; the failure to the border security law, increasing government spending, anything you just talked about -- all of that happened with President Bush at the helm. Did he deserve a large share of the blame?

Romney: Oh, I'm not pointing fingers at any one person. As a matter of fact, the challenges I'm describing are many, many years in the making: the overspending in Washington, the fact that our entitlements are still out of control, immigration being a problem that has been going now for decades. This is not one president or one Congress; it's a long-term trend that we see in Washington.

I think that Americans look to Republicans to provide the leadership, if you will -- run a tight ship, to restrain spending, to hold down taxing, to hold down the scale of government and to actually deal with some of the problems we have such as immigration problem, our health care problem that also leaves 47 million without health insurance. We want to see some changes and some action rather than just finger-pointing at the opposition party, which we all engage in.

Q: Do you agree with Newt Gingrich, who said it is time for Republicans to make a clean break from President Bush?

Romney: You know I respect President Bush in many, many ways. I didn't hear Newt Gingrich's specific comment. President Bush, in my view, is to be lauded for having brought personal integrity and dignity back into the White House. He's also to be lauded for the fact that he kept our nation safe over the last six years.

And I also approve of some of the key pieces of legislation that he fought for, such as No Child Left Behind. I think we need to test our kids to see what schools are succeeding or not. He's tried to bring some discipline to Washington, which has been hard to do. But it's a battle we're going to have to continue and one we're going to ultimately have to win.

Q: So not much daylight between you and the president?

Romney: Well, there are places where we disagree, as well, and I point those out. I believe that Medicare Part D was a helpful addition, to have a prescription drug benefit -- I certainly wanted to see it. But I also wanted to see a basic reform of Medicare, as opposed to having a multitrillion-dollar entitlement program.

I also feel that the conduct of the war in Iraq after the collapse of Saddam Hussein was not thoroughly thought out and planned or prepared for. The insufficient troop strength and incomplete rules of engagement I think were part of the reason that we have the difficulty we have there today.

Q: Would your style of governing be different from President Bush's?

Romney: Oh, I'm sure every person who is a leader or manager or governor of some kind has a distinctive style. I grew up in a home that had a lot of combat, if you will, of ideas and opinions. I went to law school and learned a method of contest where people express their views openly, and of course I went to business school. And then I spent my life in the private sector, which is very unforgiving. You make mistakes in the private sector, you'll be out of a job or out of business. In government, too often, we just keep making mistakes and then blame the other party.

So I'm used to a setting where there's a lot of debate, where you bring in people that have very different backgrounds, expect them to bring to the table all their analysis and detail. And I don't know how President Bush leads and manages. He has his own style; I'm not there [in the White House]. But my style is personal and something I've experienced or developed by virtue of many, many years in leadership.

Q: Let's talk a little bit about the big international issues that any president is going to have to face. This was a week in which you and some of the other Republicans were very critical of the decision to allow the Iranian President, [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, to come to the United States. And you said he should be indicted before the Genocide Convention. If you were president, would you ever meet with or negotiate with Ahmadinejad?

Romney: Well, you certainly don't meet with people who are as delusional, as buffoonish, as Ahmadinejad. The idea that you'd meet with [Fidel] Castro and Ahmadinejad and [Hugo] Chavez is a very bad idea, indeed. Of course we talk to other nations, and of course we have diplomatic discussions to see if we can't remove tensions and build some common [unintelligible]. And that's something which goes on at the diplomatic level, and sometimes it's through other parties. But the president of the United States is not going to dignify them with a personal trip or a meeting or a summit or something of that nature. You know, I thought he was ridiculous at Columbia and at the United Nations, and therefore that's not something you dignify further.

But in the cases of some of these individuals who are unsavory in their own way, if they give up their manner and they move in a direction that's more in favor of stability and diplomatic language, why, then of course those options ultimately become open. But I would never expect that from Ahmadinejad, Chavez or... or the like, if you will. Castro.

Q: Iran certainly seems to be the next big worry on the minds of all the candidates in both parties. Now, you've suggested on the trail, if non-military pressure does not deter Iran from developing nuclear capacity, that you would not rule out a military strike. What events or developments could lead to that?

Romney: Well, first of all we have many tools that are non-military. Much tougher economic sanctions, tougher diplomatic sanctions, marketing directly to the people of Iran to have them finally understand that becoming a nuclear nation is a great source of peril for them. Not only because of our potential miltary action, but also because if they develop fissile material which falls into the hands of terrorists, and it's used, that the world will respond not just to the terrorist that used the materials, but also to the nation that supplied it. So, this needs to be explained thoroughly to the people of Iran, and that will build pressure on Ahmadinejad's government.

But, of course we maintain our military options, and we should make sure that we... that the reality of that option is more clear in the minds of the people there, by virtue of building rapport among Republicans and Democrats as to what course we might take together. Likewise, trying to build a kind of consensus among our friends around the world, so that if Iran can recognize that this is not just the United States, but it's a commitment and a level of concern on the part of the civilized nations of the world.

Q: But you don't rule out a military strike if you believed that that was necessary.

Romney: Absolutely. You do not rule out a military strike. It is not acceptable to the civilized world to have a nation which speaks of Holocaust develop a means to carry it out. And a nation which speaks about giving nuclear material to others that oppose the West, we can't allow that to continue. And therefore we must consider our military options.

Q: Iraq is also going to be something that any incoming president is going to have to deal with, and you put out a statement after the Democratic debate saying that what we need to be talking about is how we achieve victory in Iraq. How do you define victory?

Romney: Well, the minimum level of victory is we do not allow safe havens for al-Qaida, or Hezbollah for that matter, to be established in Iraq. The truth is that had Barack Obama been president over the last nine months and simply withdrawn our troops precipitously, we would not have had the support of the Sunni leadership to help eliminate al-Qaida from among Sunni populations. And we would have established a safe haven for a group which would, from that safe haven, have launched attacks on the Western world and us in particular. So maintaining a nation that is not a safe haven for terror is something which is quite important to us.

Q: The Senate passed a measure which was the "sense of the Senate" resolution that called for Iraq to be partitioned into three areas. Do you support that?

Romney: Well, that's effectively the direction the nation has been moving over some time. The question is not will there be three states. The question is will there be a central state? Which has the capacity to protect its borders and to eliminate the threat of Iran grabbing the Shiite south or al-Qaida playing a dominate role among the Sunnis or destabilizing the border with Turkey with the Kurds. And so the idea of states has always been contemplated. It's something which is contemplated in the constitution but it's also up to the Iraqi people. We're moving in that direction as time goes on, as people move into different neighborhoods where they believe the degree of safety will be better for them. The issue is: are we going to remain there to insure that the Iraqi government and Iraqi military is able to protect the borders and keep al-Qaeda from playing a significant role?

Q: Just a couple of domestic questions that I want to ask you about your campaign. Your record as governor of Massachusetts will be looked at closely as you continue moving up in the polls in different places. You are a tax cutter -- you never raised taxes in Massachusetts -- but you did raise fees in order to balance the budget. Some almost $300 million worth of fee increases. What's the difference between that and raising taxes?

Romney: Well, they call one a fee and one a tax for a reason. The reason is because with the fee, it is applied directly to people who get a particular service. It's not a service that you have to have, but a service that you'd like to have. And so we did not raise fees on things like car registration or driver's licenses because pretty much everybody has to have that. But some of our fees... for instance, there's a fee for putting a billboard announcing where a McDonalds or Burger King is on the interstate. Those fees haven't been raised in sometimes many, many years, and so we raised them in order to keep up with inflation or to keep up with the cost of providing the service. But I readily acknowledge that we have a $3 billion budget gap. Our fee increases accounted for about $260 million of additional revenue, and that was helpful for us. We didn't raise them except our first year, but it was a source of revenue, and it brought in line the fee that we charge for certain services. And some cases, the cost of providing it.

Q: Is there any issue in this campaign that you think is off limits? For example, do you think that the personal life of a candidate is a legitimate thing to focus on in a campaign?

Romney: I think the American people will focus on whatever they like to focus on. I don't tell them, "Don't look at this, or don't look at that." I know they'll give every aspect of my life a full review. There are some things where I'm probably not the right person to respond to an issue, but I can direct them elsewhere. There are certainly topics where, if I'm asked about, I'll say, "Sorry, I'm not going there. I'm not going to get into that kind of personal matter." But that's true for every candidate. But that doesn't mean the American people are not going to get a full review of everything they think is important in their decision and that's the right of a democracy: Let people make their own choice.

Q: You have said that you think will be a strong general election candidate. You are making a strong appeal in the primary to the most conservative voters on social issues, gun issues, tax issues, immigration and so forth. What is it about you that makes you the best general election candidate?

Romney: Well, I've spent my life in the private sector; I'm not a lifelong politician. I think the American people recognize that Washington is broken and if they want to see a real change it's going to need somebody who has made changing things part of his life. I've changed businesses for the better, I've been able to change an Olympics that was in trouble along with the help of a lot of other great people, and I was able to bring change to the state of Massachusetts, again with the help of a lot of other people. It is what I learned how to do, and if you want to see Washington change, you have to pick somebody who has a record of changing things.

If you want to have an economy that's strong, it helps to have somebody who has actually had a job in the private sector and who knows something about why jobs come and why jobs go. I have much experience in that arena and I think Americans will see somebody who will get the job done. In the private sector, if you just talk, you're worthless. You've got to be able to get the job done. And finally, I grew up in the Midwest and I understand the auto industry to a certain degree. I understand the needs of the manufacturing sector. I will be able to appeal to people in the Midwest, and that's, of course, where the decision of the election is going to be the most critical.

Q:: Final question, Governor. I just have to ask you because you brought up so often that you want change. You know, of course, that your opponents criticize you for having changed your views on many issues such as abortion and immigration and same-sex marriage. What are you going to say to those undoubtedly negative ads that will run against you that say you have changed your views on issues?

Romney: Well, first of all, I'll have to correct the record. I have not changed my view on same-sex marriage. I have always opposed same-sex marriage. I have also not changed my opinion on immigration. I opposed the McCain-Kennedy Bill, I opposed the bill that came out of the Senate, and I have a very clear record as the governor of Massachusetts of opposing illegal immigration.

I did change my view on one very important issue, and that's abortion. I did that two and a half, three years ago, in Massachusetts in very much the same way Ronald Reagan changed his view on that issue, as did George Herbert Walker Bush. So I'm not embarrassed about changing my view on that issue. I felt a lot of other good people who did the same thing. And I feel like a many other people will respect the sanctity of human life.

Q: Thank you so much, Governor, it's been such a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you very much again for joining us.

Romney: Thank you so much. Good to be with you.

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