Romney: Obama's 'liberal' agenda

by Mark Silva

Add another voice to the chorus of Republicans who hope that President Barack Obama's "liberal'' agenda "fails:''

Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts who sought the Republican Party's presidential nomination last year, made his own nighttime TV appearance last night while Obama was getting the spotlight at Jay Leno's Tonight Show.

Romney, who told CNN's Larry King that he didn't find Obama's appearance with Leno appropriate at a time like this, also suggested that he won't be making another run for president - for, while as much as he hopes that Obama's own agenda fails, he does hope that Obama can succeed as president in righting the economy and repairing the polar rift that has divided the nation politically.

Now, Sarah Palin running is another story, Romney suggested. The Alaska governor "lit the place up'' when she ran for vice president and remains "a powerful voice'' for the GOP.

"Some are seeing a problem with the president doing the Tonight Show, the first sitting president ever to do a late-evening fun show,'' King asked Romney. "Do you have a problem with it?''

"Well, this probably isn't the right time for it,'' Romney said. "I must admit, I line up with Warren Buffett on this. I prefer to see the president focusing all of his time and energy on the economy.''

But Obama was talking about the economy last night, King noted of a Tonight Show interview dominated by the issue.

"He is talking about it,'' Romney said. "He's out doing a rally in California. He's posing for the cover of magazines and doing a number of things. He's putting together a health care plan, putting together a cap and trade program, a lot of things on the agenda. And frankly, if you're doing too many things, a couple of important things can slip by.''

One of those slips: The AIG bonuses.

How does Romney account for Obama's "popularity,'' King asked (with the president's public approval ratings running around 60 percent in the mainstream opinion polls).

"I know that people recognize that this is a man who is a decent fellow. He's intelligent. He's well intentioned. He's just not experienced in the matters that we're dealing with right now. And, you know, I hope he's able to get this economy turned around. ''

Does Romney, like radio's Rush Limbaugh, want Obama to fail?

"I want liberal policies to fail,'' Romney replied. "I want him to fail in trying to put in place a health care plan that takes away the private sector from health care. I want him to fail in this cap and trade program as long as China and Brazil and Indonesia are not going to play in it. But I want him to succeed as a president, meaning, I want him to succeed in strengthening our economy, keeping us free, bringing our troops home in success from Iraq and Afghanistan. But I don't want his liberal policies to succeed.''

Why wouldn't Romney run again?

"There are a lot of good reasons not to,' Romney said. "First of all, I hope that Barack Obama is so successful that -- and he adjusts his policies such that he moves to the center, he aligns with Republicans and Democrats, and does what we thought he was going to do when he was campaigning.''

Here, courtesy of CNN, is a transcript:

Joining me now is Mitt Romney.

He was a candidate for the 2008 presidential nomination of his party, the Republican Party. He's a former governor of Massachusetts, a businessman successful by any measure of the word.

We're going to talk about the economy, our new president and, of course, AIG.

But first, Barack Obama appeared tonight on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO," COURTESY NBC)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The bonuses that went to AIG are a problem. But the larger problem is we've got to get back to an attitude where people know enough is enough. And people have a sense of responsibility and they understand that their actions are going to have an impact on everybody. And if we can get back to those values that built America, then I think we're going to be OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Welcome back, governor.

MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you.

It's good to be with you, Larry.

KING: Some are seeing a problem with the president doing the "Tonight Show," the first sitting president ever to do a late-evening fun show. Do you have a problem with it?

ROMNEY: Well, this probably isn't the right time for it. I must admit, I line up with Warren Buffett on this. I prefer to see the president focusing all of his time and energy on the economy.

KING: That's what he was talking about.

ROMNEY: He is talking about it. He's out doing a rally in California. He's posing for the cover of magazines and doing a number of things. He's putting together a health care plan, putting together a cap and trade program, a lot of things on the agenda.

And frankly, if you're doing too many things, a couple of important things can slip by. And one of them that slipped by was the AIG legislation that allowed AIG executives to get these bonuses. It was put in a specific bill. Now, of course, the administration is saying they didn't know about it. You have to ask yourself, if everybody was staying home, doing their job, focusing entirely on the economy, is that something that somebody would have read? You have a thousand page bill. Somebody would have read it before they signed it.

KING: Do you have a theory on bail outs? Because President Bush did it. President Obama has done it. And their answer has been, hey, you've got to do it. You've got to do what you've got to do.

ROMNEY: Well, the term bailout has been applied to a number of different things. I think it's important to distinguish them. We don't want to have our economy collapse, so we're going to bail out the economy, if you will. We don't want to have our financial system collapse, because to make a market work, you've got to have currency, you've got to have banks. You don't want to have a cascade of failures in banks, so that your currency is not worth anything.

But you don't -- in a private world like we -- our economy works in, you don't start bailing out companies one after the other or individuals that are in trouble. You don't say, I'm going to take care of this person and not that person, or this company and not that company. Bailout of enterprises that are in trouble, that's not the right way to go. I know President Bush started it with the auto industry. I thought it was a mistake.

KING: Are you as angered over this AIG thing as probably 90 percent of the public?

ROMNEY: Yes, my view is that this is really the fault of two parties. One, the members of our government that weren't paying attention, at best. That's the most favorable way to characterize it. They weren't paying attention to the issue. They were doing a lot of other things. They should have been focusing entirely on the economy.

The other, of course, is the folks at AIG. And you ask yourself, why couldn't they have done what other enterprises do that get in trouble, which is people come together; they talk about the sacrifice they are going to make to try and keep the enterprise going. But these guys seemed not to be willing to do that. And I think it's unfortunate. This is a president who is learning on the fly. He's never turned anything around before. He hasn't had the experience of leading a nation or a business or a state in trouble. And the first rule I can tell him is focus, focus, focus. Focus on the job at hand, getting this economy going, and making sure there are no errors, no mistakes, no excessive spending. It's too risky, given the fact that the economy is hanging by a thread.

KING: How do you account for the fact that his popularity stays high?

ROMNEY: I know that people recognize that this is a man who is a decent fellow. He's intelligent. He's well intentioned. He's just not experienced in the matters that we're dealing with right now. And, you know, I hope he's able to get this economy turned around.

KING: You don't want him to fail?

ROMNEY: I want liberal policies to fail. I want him to fail in trying to put in place a health care plan that takes away the private sector from health care. I want him to fail in this cap and trade program as long as China and Brazil and Indonesia are not going to play in it. But I want him to succeed as a president, meaning, I want him to succeed in strengthening our economy, keeping us free, bringing our troops home in success from Iraq and Afghanistan.

But I don't want his liberal policies to succeed.

KING: If he called on you, would you aid him?

ROMNEY: Of course.

KING: He said he would use Republicans and Democrats.

ROMNEY: Any citizen is certainly going to respond to the call of the nation. I don't imagine my name, however, is mentioned in the White House, other than as a butt of jokes or other attacks. But again, I'm not -- I don't have any interest in participating in the administration. I feel like Judd Gregg did, which is President Obama, during the campaign moved, you know, very strongly to the center of the political spectrum. But as a president, with everything from card check now, cap and trade programs and his health care plan and his mortgage bailout plan and AIG, all of these things combined, he is far away from where I stand. And I, therefore, would not be part of that administration.

KING: Presidents do that, though. Bush moved to the center and then governed right.

ROMNEY: Well, it depends on the particular issue. I think in the case of the most successful presidents, they've been able to work at a program with people on the right and on the left, and achieve success by doing that. Bill Clinton, for instance, bowed to the desire on the part of the Republicans to reform welfare. I think it was a good thing. George Bush, likewise, was able to work on a collaborative basis to bring No Child Left Behind to fruition, and some other initiatives that he thought were important.

KING: The latest polls say you are the leader to get the party's nomination the next time around. Others say it's Rush Limbaugh leading the party. We'll see what Mitt Romney thinks after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: What do you make, Governor Romney, of this Limbaugh thing? Is he the head of your party?

ROMNEY: He's a very powerful voice among conservatives. And I listen to him. A lot of other people listen to him. He's not a spokesman for the party, of course. But we don't have one spokesman right now. That's just one of the features of not having either House in Congress or having the White House. You don't have an official place to be heard.

So our megaphone is not as loud as the megaphone that comes from Barack Obama. But it gets heard, nonetheless. And a lot of voices are being heard on our side of the aisle. And I think that's a good thing.

KING: So Rush is just one of them?

ROMNEY: But he's a very powerful voice in the world of conservative thought. He's not a spokesman for the party officially. We have a spokesman for the party, our RNC chair.

KING: And do you like Michael Steele?

ROMNEY: Yes, he's a good man.

KING: You are, apparently in recent polls -- you seem to lead -- it's still early --

ROMNEY: Kind of early, don't you think?

KING: Are you going to run again?

ROMNEY: I can't imagine making that decision at this point.

KING: But you're going to run again.

ROMNEY: No, I don't think. I'm glad that you're so insistent.

KING: Why wouldn't you?

ROMNEY: There are a lot of good reasons not to. First of all, I hope that Barack Obama is so successful that -- and he adjusts his policies such that he moves to the center, he aligns with Republicans and Democrats, and does what we thought he was going to do when he was campaigning.

KING: But you still have to have an opponent.

ROMNEY: Of course you have to have an opponent. I don't look at political office as something that you want to do because it will be fun or a campaign as a thrill. You get involved in public service because you think you can make a difference, and the skills and experience you've had would make the country stronger. That's something you measure down the road based upon who else is there and what the challenges are. I'd have to weigh that at the time that a race was shaping up.

KING: What do you make and did you make of Governor Palin?

ROMNEY: Boy, she was able to connect with our party in a very powerful way, ignite a lot of enthusiasm and excitement. That kind of political skill is rare. I hadn't met her before the announcement that she was going to be our VP nominee. And I thought, boy, she's going to have a tough time up there on the stage at the Republican convention.

Was I wrong. She got out there and just lit the place up, and was able to draw a lot of support from across the nation. She's a powerful voice.

KING: Did the McCain campaign in any way disappoint you?

ROMNEY: Well, I'm sure the McCain campaign disappointed John McCain.

KING: The way it was run, aspects of it?

ROMNEY: I don't recall --

KING: You and he had difficult moments.

ROMNEY: Yes. But I don't recall worrying about his campaign. I looked at my own campaign. We made our own mistakes. I'm sure the McCain campaign made some of their mistakes, too. I have nothing but respect for John McCain. I mean, the guy is a national hero, and his posture on the issues was absolutely right. So I supported him, endorsed him and I continue to speak with him on a relatively frequent basis.

KING: Back to the economy. The House today passed a measure to slap a hefty tax on big employee bonuses paid by companies getting federal bail outs. Good idea?

ROMNEY: Well, look, everybody is mad at AIG and their executives for doing what they did. It makes no sense at all. But to suggest that this is not the fault of the people in Congress who passed the specific measure allowing them to take these bonuses is a diversionary tactic and wrong. You don't have a government take punitive action against a small group of people.

Frankly, it's unconstitutional, in my view. You don't want to see that kind of power exercised by a governmental authority, to say, you know what, we're going to go after you. What they did to those guys -- the guys at AIG, I'm mad at them as anybody else. What if they said, that Larry King, he said some very offensive things about our president; we're going to go after his bonus and pass a bill to take away his money. That is not the American way.

And I understand it was driven by emotion. But in my view, it was the wrong course.

KING: Don't you think, though, the public probably supports it?

ROMNEY: Oh, sure, I think it's a very popular thing on the part of many in the public. But give it some thought, think of the second order affect. Do you really want to have a federal government that can decide after the fact to go after someone they disagree with for having done something they don't like, and take away their money?

And as angry as all of us are at what AIG executives have done, the place to vent our anger is at the people who allowed this to happen.

KING: More with Mitt Romney on this edition of LARRY KING LIVE right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Welcome back. We're talking to Mitt Romney about a number of pressing issues, including the economy. Everyone is touched in some way by current events, including tonight's CNN Hero nominee. He's Jorge Munoz, quite a guy, doing what he can without very much to help day laborers in Queens. I asked him how he got started.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORGE MUNOZ, CNN HERO NOMINEE: About four years ago, I saw people throwing food in the garbage. So I asked if I could have that food and hand it to somebody else who needed it.

KING: Your day starts with all of this at a quarter to 5:00 in the morning with food inventory. Tell us how you prepare and gather the meals for the week.

MUNOZ: Well, I'm a school bus driver. I keep every day calling my mom. So she prepares the food. And when I get there, we pack the meals and head to the corner in Queens.

KING: Are the people appreciative of what you do?

MUNOZ: Oh, yes, they are. They are waiting for me, even in winter or summer. They are waiting right there every night around 9:30.

KING: Do you consider yourself a hero?

MUNOZ: No, I think the hero is my mom. She is the one who teached me to share things in my childhood.

KING: I'll speak for us at CNN. We consider you a hero. Congratulations, Jorge, thank you.

MUNOZ: Thank you so much, Larry. KING: Our hero nominee this week, great story, Jorge Munoz.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: A lot of Americans like that.

ROMNEY: It's what makes the country what it is. I think there are some folks who believe that America is great because we've got such a great government. I don't believe that for a minute. I think America is great because we have people like that. We have individuals who love their families, who give to their community, who give to others in need, who build businesses, who create jobs. It's the individual spirit that makes America what it is.

KING: Do you have a hero?

ROMNEY: I have a lot of heroes, but probably at the top of my list are mom and dad. Neither one are around anymore but extraordinary people.

KING: We'll be right back with Mitt Romney. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

KING: The president held a town hall in California earlier today. He seems to hold one a day. This is his second in two days. Here's a little of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We are going to meet these challenges. We will come out on the other side stronger and a more prosperous nation. That I can guarantee you. I can't tell you how long it will take, what obstacles we'll face along the way. But I promise you this, there will be brighter days ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Upbeat a good idea?

ROMNEY: Absolutely. I was very concerned early on in the administration's rhetoric. They were very, very negative, talking about this being the worst downturn since the Great Depression. There were stories everywhere, as a result, talking about the Depression. That's the wrong way to go. The president has to be upbeat and the economy will turn around. The question is, will it turn around faster by virtue of what the president has done or will he actually have slowed it down?

There are some things he's done that will help and will encourage the economy to get going again. There are other things that haven't helped as much. Frankly, I liked the Republican stimulus plan better than I liked Barack Obama's. But we are going to see a stronger economy. When that occurs, when we see that turning point is difficult to predict.

KING: Former President Bush said he's not going to spend anytime criticizing Obama. He says he deserves silence. However, former Vice President Cheney is taking a very different tact, charging that he's making choices which would make us vulnerable for another attack. Which way do you go here?

ROMNEY: Well, I think there's a standard which is applied to former presidents, and that standard is that they have had their time on the stage and it's best for them to step aside and let the new president have his or her chance. I think President Bush is doing the right thing. I think every other Republican is --

KING: Former vice president.

ROMNEY: I don't know that we have a precedent there. I'm not going to judge another person's action in that regard. But I can say in my view, Barack Obama is ripe for criticism. This AIG mess is certainly at his doorstep. The fact that he's not spending his time focusing on managing the economy, but is instead in Hollywood tonight and working on cap and trade and health care and other issues, diverting from the issue at hand, I think is certainly fair game to be discussed.

KING: Do you think we're more vulnerable to an attack?

ROMNEY: I think if we're going to release the detainees that are in Guantanamo and put them out either in our own prisons or at prisons in nations that are going to release them, that will make us less secure. I'm glad that President Obama decided to pull back on his original plans to immediately bring our troops home from Iraq. We're succeeding there. He's decided to go a little more slowly there in bringing our troops hope. to make sure that it's stable. That's the right course and I appreciate that.

KING: Back with our remaining moments with Mitt Romney and another appearance of President Obama's appearance on "The Tonight Show" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Here's another clip from the president's appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno tonight. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LENO: Let me ask you, when people, Mr. President, would you like to play? Yes, I would. Do they throw the game? Come on.

OBAMA: I don't see why they would throw the game, except for all the Secret Service guys with guns around.

LENO: Exactly, exactly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: That was fun, right? That didn't harm anything?

ROMNEY: I hope not.

KING: Unless out his basketball dunking again. The word is, we know former President Bush is about to write a book. And there's the word that you are.

ROMNEY: That's true. I also heard that Sarah Palin is writing a book. There was a rumor that she had been offered an 11 million dollar advance from her publisher.

KING: That's a lot.

ROMNEY: My publisher is talking to me about 11 million dollars as well, but I couldn't come up with that much money. I've used that before, but I am writing a book.

KING: You are?

ROMNEY: Yes, you bet.

KING: About?

ROMNEY: About the country and the challenges that America faces, what it's going to take to get ourselves back on track. I'm very concerned that we're seeing the emergence of very different threats coming from Russia, from China, from the Jihadists, both from an economic standpoint, in the case of Russia, with their energy resources, and China with their productive resources.

We see an economic threat and a military threat. And it's going to take some changes here if we're going to remain the leader of the world.

KING: Do you have faith in American business?

ROMNEY: Yes. Everybody in this country has to recognize that every single dollar we have represents a good or a service produced in the private sector. Every job we have that isn't working for government comes because somebody had an idea and began a business. Small business people, big business people, they're just American citizens who took a risk and some of them find the chance to make that risk became positive and generate jobs and income.

That's a great thing. It's a good thing. We know what happens when it's not working. That's what's happening right now.

KING: What about when business goofs?

ROMNEY: To err is human and to make bad decisions is also human. You've seen some very bad characters. But whether that's an executive or a basketball player or a politician, it's throughout every society I know of. But look, we need business to be successful if we want to have good jobs. And I'm not going to be taking my time taking pot shots at the entire profession of business or any other profession in this country. Except maybe lawyers -- I'm kidding. KING: Shoot the lawyers.

ROMNEY: Shoot the lawyers first.

KING: Your wife has multiple sclerosis, a disease some scientists think will be cured through stem cell research. How is she doing?

ROMNEY: She's doing terrifically well. She's riding horses on a regular basis. She thinks that keeps her healthy and strong. And she's one of the few that has had very little progression from the disease. So I'm pleased and hopeful.

KING: Do you support the stem cell thing?

ROMNEY: I support stem cell research. I do not support creating new embryos for the purpose of taking away the life of that embryo, and taking stem cells from those embryos. There are a lot of better ways than getting stem cells from --

KING: Even though they're probably never going to be lives?

ROMNEY: If you create them in the laboratory, you're creating new life. And I wouldn't do that for the purpose of research, but there are fortunately much better ways of doing it, which has now been proven by scientists across the country.

KING: Do you think we're going to cure MS?

ROMNEY: I sure hope so. I think eventually we'll be curing most of the major diseases we know during our lifetimes. But when these things get cured, that's going to be a long time down the road.

KING: Your wife still as outspoken as always?

ROMNEY: She's the best, I'll tell you. I'm sure she's watching tonight. So, of course, outspoken and right.

KING: She says what she thinks?

ROMNEY: That's for sure.

KING: Always good seeing you.

ROMNEY: Thanks, Larry. Good to be with you.

KING: Governor Mitt Romney. We always enjoy being in his company.