Political Browser: The Trail
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CONSERVATIVE CREDENTIALS
Romney Restates Belief That McCain Is Outside GOP Mainstream
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- In the heat of the Republican primary battle, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney blasted John McCain as "outside the mainstream of conservative Republican thought."
But does Romney, who spoke in support of McCain on Wednesday night, still believe that?
Actually, yes.
In an interview Thursday afternoon with Washington Post reporters and editors, Romney said he stands by his assessment of how he and McCain stack up against each other in terms of their conservative credentials.
"I still think my views on those issues are more consistent with the mainstream of my party, but you know what? He won. And I didn't," Romney said.
The comments came in a wide-ranging discussion in which Romney repeatedly criticized Barack Obama for not having enough experience to be president. "On the Democratic side, you have a nominee who is of so little experience in foreign affairs, domestic affairs, of any affairs, that I wonder how it happened," he said.
At one point, Romney stumbled a bit. Criticizing Obama's statements on Pakistan, he said, "We're going to go in and bomb Pakistan if we find Barack Obama -- excuse me, excuse me -- Osama bin Laden."
But his assessment of McCain's conservative credentials was the most interesting part of the conversation, because it was so off-message.
"Those comments pointed out differences between he and I on issues. I continue to have those differences with John McCain on those issues," he said. "But during my campaign, and during the debates, I always said I respect John McCain. He's a national hero and a person who is without question qualified to be president of the United States."
He went on: "There were a number of positions that he took that were more liberal, in my opinion, than my positions. And there are probably some vice versa. . . . I disagree with him on his original vote on the Bush tax cuts. I disagreed with the final version of McCain-Kennedy. I disagreed with him on campaign finance reform. I still do."
