GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney plans to unveil a series of initiatives aimed at combating what he called the burgeoning vulgarity of television and the pervasiveness of Internet pornography.
In an interview with The Examiner, Romney railed against “the unrequested pornography that comes into your computer — the pop-ups.”
“And you know, type in a wrong letter and bingo, you get all sorts of stuff you didn’t want, that I’d just as soon my kids not get,” added Romney, who’s a father of five and grandfather of 10. “You can get filters, and yet they keep finding ways around the filters.”
Romney said he would announce his proposals within three weeks. They include “some that relate to the law, some that relate to the bully pulpit and some that relate to calling on the best instincts of leaders from all walks of life.”
By focusing on the perceived coarsening of the culture, Romney said he hoped to strengthen his fragile credentials among social conservatives before Fred Thompson’s expected entry into the Republican race. Romney already is regarded as more socially conservative than Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani and more politically viable than Sen. John McCain, whose campaign has largely collapsed.
That leaves Thompson as Romney’s chief rival for the support of conservatives. Romney has worked for months to overcome GOP qualms about his Mormonism and shifting stance on abortion.
Romney telegraphed his forthcoming broadside in the culture wars by releasing a TV ad Monday in which he calls for “less violence and sex on TV and in video games and in movies.”
Romney once wrote that many Americans regard Mormons as “goody two-shoes.” But last month, the Boston Globe quoted sources as saying Romney twice used the f-word in an incident at the 2002 Winter Olympic games in Salt Lake City, which he chaired.
“I have not used that word since college — all right?” Romney told the Globe. “Or since high school.”
In his Examiner interview, Romney lamented that TV shows rushed to use a “graphic description of genitalia” as soon as decency restrictions were relaxed.
“Every show was like, we can’t wait to get that word in,” he said. “That word doesn’t come up in my conversation.” Even among “a bunch of guys hanging around a bar, it doesn’t come up.”
