Romney: Marriage is one answer to poverty

Mitt Romney praised marriage as an antidote to poverty, noted that he’s “not a big fan of Vladimir Putin’s” and acknowledged that “short term, our economy is looking up” during an appearance Wednesday evening.

But when asked about what he would do differently if he runs for president in 2016, he was coy.


In a speech at Mississippi State University that also took aim at Hillary Clinton, the 2012 Republican nominee argued that most Americans are being left behind, stuck in dead-end jobs or forced to accept stagnant wages.

“It is a lot better for the few, and pretty darn discouraging for the many,” Romney said, according to excerpts shared with reporters in advance. Colin Reed, a spokesman for Romney, confirmed his remarks during the speech and subsequent question-and-answer session.

The main rationale for Romney’s last candidacy was that the country needed an experienced businessman to bring about economic recovery. In May 2012, the former Bain Capital executive promised to get the unemployment rate — then 8.1 percent — down to 6 percent by the end of his first term. Midway through President Barack Obama’s second term, it is now 5.6 percent.

Obama has injected the need to reduce income inequality into the national conversation, and Romney has been moving to co-opt the message. “I can’t count how many recent college graduates I met who expected a high-paying job at graduation and instead were waiting tables,” he said.

The Republican, who has suggested to donors that he thinks he’s the only GOP contender who can defeat Clinton, also sharply criticized the presumptive Democratic nominee. He noted Clinton’s October gaffe when she declared, “Don’t let anybody tell you that it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs.”

“How can Secretary Clinton provide opportunity for all if she doesn’t know where jobs come from in the first place?” Romney said. “And how does President Obama expect to make America the best place on earth for businesses, as he promised in his State of the Union address, if he persists in business taxation that is the highest in the developed world, regulations that favor the biggest banks and crush the small ones, a complex and burdensome health care plan, and a slanted playing field for unions and trial lawyers?”

On the economy, Romney has been adjusting his message based on the job growth of recent years. Even during the 2012 campaign, as the economy showed signs of improvement, Romney had to tweak his comments. He had to rework his stump speech that October after the unemployment rate dropped below 8 percent.

“We need a president who will do what it takes to bring more good paying jobs to the placement offices of our college campuses,” he said Wednesday night.

Moving toward a more-likely-than-not third run for the presidency, Romney is test-driving a fresher rationale. The former Massachusetts governor has been laying out three policy pillars that would underlie a 2016 bid: foreign policy, economic opportunity for the middle class and better assistance for the poor.

On foreign policy, Romney feels that his dire warnings of 2012 have been vindicated.

“The president’s dismissal of real global threats in his State of the Union address was naive at best and deceptive at worst,” he said, according to the excerpts. The Islamic State terror network “represents a new level of threat given its oil revenues, vast territory, and ability to recruit even in the West. I don’t know how the president expects to defeat the jihadists if he won’t even call them what they are.”

Romney, who during his last campaign described Russia as American’s No. 1 geopolitical foe, stressed his disdain for Putin during the Mississippi appearance. He also criticized Clinton, who served as secretary of state during Obama’s first term, for “cluelessly” pursuing a reset with Russia before it invaded Ukraine.

“Doesn’t the president understand that some of what we are seeing in the world is in part the result of his timid foreign policy, of walking away from his red line in Syria, of paring back our military budget, and of insulting friends like Israel and Poland?” Romney said. “Strong American leadership is desperately needed for the world, and for America.”

Romney also applauded the decision by House Speaker John Boehner to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress, a move some have seen as a slight to the White House, which is pursuing nuclear talks with Iran over Israel’s objections.

On poverty, Romney is trying to neutralize one of his biggest vulnerabilities. Three years ago, he said on television that he was not concerned with the plight of the very poor (because he was focused on the middle class). And his caught-on-tape comment that 47 percent of Americans would never vote for him because they were takers proved devastating.

On Wednesday, he said he had “met folks who had been in poverty from generation to generation. These we have to help escape the tragedy and the trap of chronic generational poverty…. It’s finally time to apply conservative policies that improve America’s education system, promote family formation and create good-paying jobs.”

In particular, Romney said the government should not pursue policies that discourage marriage, arguing that the institution is a bulwark against poverty.

The idea of a third Romney run for the White House has been met with derision in some circles in the GOP, with critics arguing his time has passed.

During the question-and-answer session on Wednesday evening, Romney was pressed on what he would do differently if runs in 2016. However, he passed on a chance to share details.

“That’s another question I won’t answer,” Romney said.