Mitt Romney formally declared himself a presidential candidate Tuesday, voicing a conservative agenda aimed at assuaging Republican concerns about his more moderate past.
“I believe we are overtaxed,” the Republican said in his announcement speech at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich.
“I believe that homeland security begins with securing our borders,” the former Massachusetts governoradded. “I believe in the sanctity of human life.”
That last assertion was designed to counter Republican skepticism over Romney’s stated opposition to abortion.
He called himself “pro-choice” until 2004, then switched to “pro-life” after saying he had an epiphany while grappling with a bill on stem cell research.
On paper, at least, Romney appears more conservative than his two main rivals for the GOP presidential nomination, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, both of whom have exploratory committees but have not yet formally declared their candidacy. Romney shares President Bush’s conservative positions on most domestic and foreign issues, and is actually considered more conservative than the president on illegal immigration.
But some Republicans question the depth of Romney’s conservative convictions.
For example, conservative strategist Craig Shirley on Tuesday called Romney “a liberal from the northeast with a history of opposing Reaganism.”
“The conservatives who dominate the GOP are suburban and rural, southern and western, who believe in less government and more freedom,” said Shirley, author of “Reagan’s Revolution.”
Yet Romney spent a significant portion of Tuesday’s speech railing against “the welfare state.” He called for “a government that is smaller and less bureaucratic, one with fewer regulations and more freedom for our people.”
“Our government has become a weight on the American people, sapping their strength and slowing their climb,” he said. “It’s time to put government in its place.”
Romney was equally conservative in his articulation of foreign policy. He endorsed Bush’s “surge” of additional troops into Iraq and took a veiled swipe at congressional Democrats who oppose the surge with nonbinding resolutions of disapproval.
“Today, as we stare at the face of radical violent jihad and at the prospect of nuclear epidemic, our military might should not be subject to the whims of ever-changing political agendas,” he said.
Romney also warned that the Western Hemisphere is “now threatened by a second aspiring tyrant,” a reference to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, an ally of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
