Wolf Blitzer


Republican Mitt Romney is wearing many hats in these final weeks before the midterm election. He is finishing out his term as the governor of Massachusetts. He's the chairman of the Republican Governors Association. And he's a leading presidential prospect in 2008.

 

Now he is offering some very blunt talk about the GOP's chances next month and about the hot-button issue of gay marriage.

 

 

Governor Romney, thanks very much for coming in.

 

GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R), MASSACHUSETTS: Thank you, Wolf.

 

 

Everybody assumes you want to be president of the United States some day -- nothing wrong with that. But tell our viewers why you would like to be president.

 

 

This is the hope of the world, this nation is. But anyone looking at that race should certainly not look at it for personal ego gratification, but, rather, out of a sense of duty and obligation.

 

 

 

 

(LAUGHTER)

 

 

 

 

After the elections, presumably, November 7, it's going to be a sprint to Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina. At what point do you make a decision, "You know what, I want to be president"?

 

 

But you probably can't wait too long, because the primaries and the early caucuses are starting even earlier this year. So, I think those that are really serious about looking at '08 are going to have to make up their mind pretty quickly.

 

 

Merle Black, the Emory University political scientist, referred to it "The New York Times" last week: "He starts out with a deck stacked against him. Obviously, he overcame this in Massachusetts. But he is going to be dealing with a different voting group on the national level" -- the fact that you're a Mormon.

 

 

 

But they do want a person who is a person of faith. And I think, as they look at people who will be running in '08, they are going to look for folks that share their values. And their values are what is most critical, for conservative Christian voters, as well as Jewish voters, and those that come from different backgrounds.

 

I don't think faith will become a factor, in the final analysis. But it may become an issue people talk about early on. But, ultimately, they put aside those differences, and focus on the capabilities of the individual candidates, their vision, their aspirations, where they take America, and why they're running.

 

 

But I will read to you what Pastor Ted Haggard, the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, said the other day: "We evangelicals view Mormons as a Christian cult group. A cult group is a group that claims exclusive revelation. And, typically, it's hard to get out of these cult groups. And, so, Mormonism qualifies as that."

 

Is that a problem, as far as evangelicals are concerned?

 

(CROSSTALK)

 

 

(LAUGHTER)

 

 

The great majority of American people look at the character of the person, their track record, what they plan on doing, what their values are. I saw Jerry Falwell quoted the other day in a paper, saying: Look, if Mitt Romney decides to run, and if he's our nominee, I will be happy to work for him.

 

You are going to see most evangelicals support whoever they feel is closest to their values. And that may be me. It may be somebody else. But I don't think that people are going to ever disqualify someone and apply a religious test. The Constitution says that's prohibitive. We don't apply religious tests. And I doubt Republicans will either.

 

 

If that is, in fact, what it is, the president has to accept the fact that the buck stops with him.

 

 

But we also recognize, as a nation, that we're not happy with what is going on in the world. We're not happy about the fact that jihadists are intent on causing the collapse of our government and our military and our economy. But that's just the reality of what we're facing.

 

And the Democrats haven't pointed out any solution different than that which is provided by the president. So, they may not be happy with the fact that we're in a situation...

 

(CROSSTALK)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think very few responsible Democrats, including people like Hillary Clinton, say just turn around and get out. We all want to get out as soon as we can. But we recognize that Iraq is simply a front on the war on terror. Terror is going to continue. The jihadists are trying to take over modern Muslim nations.

 

 

 

I mean, following the collapse of the Hussein government, we found that the planning level and the troop strength level were not adequate for the need.

 

But we are where we are now. And problems arise. And surprises occur in major international conflict. But now we're in a setting which is very challenging. But simply turning around and walking out now could lead to a humanitarian disaster.

 

 

 

 

 

And stay the course should be amended to say, let's make sure we give al-Maliki the time he needs to establish the kind of security capability that will provide safety for his citizens, but, then, let's move out as quickly as we can, and defend our interests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Listen to what she said.

 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

 

MARY CHENEY, DAUGHTER OF VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY: Same-sex marriage is obviously an issue that we can disagree on, and that this country needs to debate. But the notion of amending the Constitution and writing -- basically, writing discrimination into the Constitution of the United States is fundamentally wrong.

 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

 

 

 

And, so, as we think about the development of children, and the future of our nation and its ability to raise a generation, we need to have homes where there are moms and dads. So, I favor traditional marriage, not out of any sense of discrimination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, of course, we have a lot of homes where there is a single mom. And that's not ideal, but, I mean, there are some -- but there are some great families.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But, overall, in a society, again, the right setting -- the ideal setting for raising a child is where they have access to a mom and a dad.

 

 

 

 

 

And the reason it's so important to do at a federal level -- and I know some people say they are against gay marriage, but let the states decide. Well, if one state decides that they are going to have gay marriage, and they marry people from all over the country, then, every state ends up with gay marriage, because people move around this country.

 

And, ultimately, the Supreme Court may well say that, under the full faith and credit clause, if you're married in one state...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I am saying is that marriage...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, we have kids in a second-grade class in Massachusetts being taught from a book called "The King and the King," where a prince doesn't find a princess to marry, but another prince. And they become the kings.

 

We begin to say that we're indifferent between a marriage between a man and a woman and two men or two women. And we're not indifferent as a society. Fundamentally, as a society, overall, we want homes with moms and dads.

 

Now, if individuals want to do -- take a different course and enter into contracts with one another that are between same-sex individuals, they're free to do so. But marriage, as a term and as an institution, should be associated with men and women.

 

 

 

 

 

It's not the wrong side of history, because, actually, in the whole history of the world, from the very beginning of recorded history, marriage has always meant a relationship between a man and a woman.

 

Look, if two people of the same gender want to live together and enter into a contract with each other, so be it. But don't pretend that it's marriage. And society, as a whole, will benefit by having its children, on the average, raised by moms and dads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I sat into my office. And a provost of Harvard University and the head of stem cell research came in and said: Governor, this isn't a moral issue, because we kill the embryo after 14 days.

 

And that struck me as being a -- just a blow to the gut, because I recognized that we had so cheapened the value of human life, through the Roe v. Wade mentality, that I could no longer stand on the sidelines, if you will. I had to take sides.

 

And I call myself firmly pro-life.

 

 

 

But I do not favor, if you will, what is known as embryo farming, taking donor sperm, donor eggs, putting them together in the laboratory, and creating new embryos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You're out there campaigning for Republican gubernatorial candidates.

 

 

 

 

 

(LAUGHTER)

 

 

(CROSSTALK)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fortunately, among governors, there is no vote on the majority. It's done state by state. And some great states will have Republican governors. And I think you will see a number of states where Democrats are looking for a pickup; they won't get it.

 

 

 

 

 

You have got states like New York and Arkansas that are blue states that have Republican governors who are retiring.

 

 

 

 

 

But I understand that the president and Karl Rove are very positive. So, I'm adopting that same positive attitude.

 

 

(LAUGHTER)

 

 

Governor, thanks very much for coming in.