Monday, June 18, 2012
Associated Press
BRUNSWICK, Ohio
Mitt Romney, in an interview aired Sunday, repeatedly refused to say that he would overturn President Barack Obama’s new policy allowing some young illegal immigrants to stay in the United States. He claimed Obama’s decision was political, while senior White House adviser David Plouffe said the move wasn’t motivated by politics.
The Republican presidential candidate was asked three times on CBS’ “Face the Nation” whether he would overturn the executive order issued Friday if he’s elected in the fall. He refused to directly answer.
“It would be overtaken by events,” Romney said when pressed for the second time by moderator Bob Schieffer during the interview taped Saturday while the former Massachusetts governor’s bus tour stopped in Pennsylvania.
He explained the order would become irrelevant “by virtue of my putting in place a long-term solution, with legislation which creates law that relates to these individuals such that they know what their setting is going to be, not just for the term of a president but on a permanent basis.”
Romney’s Rust Belt tour swept through Ohio on Sunday. He attended a Father’s Day pancake breakfast with two of his sons and five of his 18 grandchildren. He told a rain-soaked crowd that the weather was a metaphor for the country and that “three and half years of dark clouds are about to part.” At a second event in Newark, near Columbus, Romney told a cheering crowd that the president’s slogan had changed.
“Last time when he was running for president, his campaign theme was hope and change. This time, he’s hoping to change the subject because the American people are not happy,” Romney said, speaking for about nine minutes as Occupy Wall Street protesters yelled from nearby.
He planned a third in the state Sunday, where he was set to campaign with House Speaker John Boehner.
In the TV interview, Romney suggested that Obama’s decision on immigration was motivated by politics. “If he felt seriously about this he should have taken action when he had a Democrat House and Senate, but he didn’t. He saves these sort of things until four and a half months before the general election,” he said.
Plouffe, the Obama adviser, sent by the White House to four of the talk shows, contended that Obama’s action, which appeals to Hispanic voters who are critical to the president’s re-election effort, was not “a political move.”
Plouffe acknowledged that Obama’s team expects an extraordinarily close election.