WASHINGTON — Republican Mitt Romney sought Sunday to deflect charges that he is a flip-flopper, insisting he had learned from experience and could be counted on to keep his campaign promises if elected president.
Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, also called on Mike Huckabee to apologize to President Bush. In an article in the journal Foreign Affairs, Huckabee criticized Bush’s foreign policy as an “arrogant bunker mentality.” Huckabee said no apology is necessary and that Romney should read the article.
Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” a defensive Romney acknowledged that he has shifted positions on some issues and explained that he did so after learning from experience. He said it would be a mistake if a candidate “stubbornly takes a position on a particular issue and says, ‘Well, I’m never changing my view based on what I’ve learned.’ ”
“If you’re looking for someone who’s never changed any positions on any policies, then I’m not your guy,” Romney said.
At the same time, Romney insisted that as governor he kept all of his campaign promises despite changing some views and said he would stick to his promises if elected president.
“Bottom line: All the positions you laid out today as a presidential candidate, can you assure the voters you won’t flip back to some of the positions you had when you were governor of Massachusetts?” asked NBC moderator Tim Russert.
“Of course,” Romney responded.
Among the issues:
Abortion. Romney acknowledged changing his views in 2004 from supporting abortion rights to opposing them. He said he did not entirely betray abortion-rights voters, either, because he did not seek to change Massachusetts abortion laws.
Taxes. Romney said he promised not to raise taxes as governor and did not go back on his word by raising fees by about $240 million to help balance the budget. The fees were on services such as gun licenses and training to combat domestic violence. He explained that because the fees were not on broad-based services, such as driver’s licenses, they did not “have a sense, a feeling like a tax.”
Same-sex rights. Romney acknowledged he supported federal efforts to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation but now supports such laws only at the state level.
