Romney Blasts Obama, Others

By: Lisa Rossi

Des Moines Register

Saturday, Jul 21, 2007

"Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney turned up the rhetoric Friday against Democratic front-runners in the race for president, calling into question their executive experience and comparing their views to philosophies in Europe.

"'America has won; Europe has lost,' said Romney, a Republican.

"Democrats 'think about big government, big taxes and Big Brother,' he said. 'That's the same course Europe has taken over the last couple of decades that has led to a level of growth far below our own.'"

...

"Romney said he wants to use his private-sector experience to cut government spending. For example, he said, he would hire private-sector experts to analyze spending in the Defense Department 'and see if there are any projects in there being done for politics or our real need militarily.'

"In the private sector, he said, 'you either get better every year or you go out of business,' he said.

"Romney said Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards 'have never run a corner store, let alone run a state or a business, and now they want to run the government.'

"Romney also lobbed criticism specifically at Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois. Romney said Obama has suggested age-appropriate sex education for kindergartners.

"'He said age-appropriate sex education. Now what does that mean? The amount of age-appropriate is absolutely zero,' Romney said." ...