In a shift, Romney talks Iraq
Posted: Saturday, November 10, 2007 1:46 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ’s Erin McPikeMANCHESTER, NH --
Romney this morning spent his first time canvassing as a presidential candidate by talking about the progress being made in Iraq and his view that change is needed.
“I think in some respects there’s more good news on the Iraq front than people have yet to internalize,” he told reporters after knocking on doors for about an hour.
Romney hasn’t been using Iraq as a selling point on the stump recently. Instead, he spends the bulk of his time on Iran, global terrorism, spending issues and gay marriage.
One of the Manchester residents Romney spoke with was a former Marine, who told the former Bay State governor he didn’t believe that the effort in Iraq was going well. The candidate respectfully disagreed with the man and emphasized later that the focus has been on what’s been going wrong in Iraq rather than progress that has been made. Romney was optimistic that improvements will start to become more apparent over time.
Asked what he would do differently, he didn’t offer much of a change message as far as Iraq was concerned. “Right now, I would continue to support the surge,” Romney said, “and, of course, insist on day-to-day briefings on what progress we’re making.”
He also stressed: “By and large the folks I spoke with are quite concerned and want to see change. And even here people are looking for change in Washington.”
A handful of houses Romney stopped by along the neighborhood route were empty, but of the people he met, there was a healthy mix of Republicans and Independents, who wished him well. He tried asked them about their concerns and particularly what they thought about Washington.
Romney Nuggets: Romney marveled over the size of the leaves in the neighborhood and picked one up as he was leaving one house. What he said: “Adam and Eve would not have looked as promiscuous if they had had leaves this big.”
