Election 2008 - Candidate Spotlight

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney is the 60-year old former governor of Massachusetts, originally from Detroit, Michigan. He studied at Brigham Young and Harvard University and worked in the management and consulting industry throughout the 70s and 80s.

"We should say if you're here illegally, you should not be here," Romney said. "We're not going to give you benefits, other than those required by the law, like health care and education and that's the course we're going to have to pursue.

Romney also said that he intends to cut spending, specifically "pork-barrel spending-" discretionary government spending intended to benefit the constituents of a politician in exchange for their political support.

"Every bill that comes forward that's got pork in it and earmarks that are unnecessary, we've got to veto them and send them back."

One issue that Romney has changed his mind about over the years is abortion. At the YouTube debate, one video showed a 2004 video in which Romney said he thought abortion should be safe and legal in the United States.

"I was wrong," Romney said. "I was effectively pro-choice when I ran for office. And I changed my mind as governor. I could not sign onto a bill that takes away human life."

According to his Web site, Romney's stance on education is that there needs to be more local control of schools. He promises to reform and improve the much criticized No Child Left Behind law and has proposed a federal Home Schooling tax credit, in which parents of home schooled children will receive tax benefits in order to help "defray the educational expenses for the parents of the estimated 1.1 million home-schooled kids in America."

While Romney's Web site states that the former governor intends to provide presidential leadership in decreasing America's dependence on foreign oil, the site does not state any specific numeric goals or plans to propose legislation on carbon emissions standards or vehicle fuel economy.

Romney's Web site states that during the 1980s, he was a consultant in the health insurance industry. His plans to reform health care include the deregulation of state markets and making all health care expenses tax deductible.

The 45 million who don't have insurance - if they get sick they go to the emergency room for care," Romney said at the Florida medical association in August, according to his Web site.

"Who's it paid for by? Well, by the people who do have insurance So not having insurance is not good for them, doesn't give them good quality health care – and it's not good for everybody else, because they're having to pay for it, through their taxes or their premiums. The problem of the uninsured is a problem for all Americans."

While Romney enumerates a number of goals to strengthen strategic planning, confront military Jihad and ensure American security, there is no statement on a withdrawal timetable for the war in Iraq.

-Reporting done by Peter Viglietta, news editor