Romney, in Exiting, Evokes ‘War on Terror’ Concerns
Mitt Romney suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination
Thursday after a poor showing in the Super Tuesday primaries. As voters became preoccupied with economic concerns, the former Massachusetts governor ran on the idea that a successful venture capitalist like him could repair the economy. “I spent my entire life in the real economy. I know why jobs come; I know why they go,” he said in a speech after losing the Florida primary in January. “The economy is in my DNA.” A professed free trader, Romney also was quick to show his support for ailing U.S. industries he believed were allowed to lag competitively in the global economy. Such was the case in his native state of Michigan, where he promised to bring back manufacturing jobs that his rival, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), said were lost.
That message won in Michigan but Romney’s strategy of seizing on illegal immigration as a wedge issue with other Republicans did not win him enough support in the end. Romney took a hard line on illegal immigration throughout the campaign, often attacking his opponents for being soft on the issue. Like his Republican opponents, he called for a physical and technological fence to be built on the U.S.-Mexico border. He also proposed issuing a biometric identification card for immigrants, and spoke forcefully against amnesty or any “special pathway” to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
On the torture issue, Romney refused to say whether he would rule out the controversial use of waterboarding, saying in a November 2007 debate he did not think “it’s wise for us to describe specifically which measures we would and would not use.” Romney has also expressed firm support for maintaining the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, and even expanding it.
Romney supported the Bush administration’s troop surge in Iraq, though at first not as vigorously as McCain. He generally pointed to “jihadism” as the most pressing threat (Foreign Affairs) to the United States, calling it the “defining challenge of our generation.” He highlighted this concern in his speech announcing suspension of his campaign, saying he did not want to fracture the Republican Party at a time of war and strengthen the hand of Democratic front-runners intent on drawing down the U.S. troop levels in Iraq.
