Romney jabs president in CPAC speech

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The Hill:

Romney jabs president in CPAC speech
By Sean J. Miller and Emily Goodin - 02/11/11 12:15 PM ET
Mitt Romney got in several jabs at President Obama and emphasized his business credentials in addressing an audience of conservative activists in Washington Friday morning.

His speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) hinted he'll run for president in 2012.


The former governor of Massachusetts prefaced how he would handle the economy with the phrase, "if I were to decide to run for president," which drew cheers from the crowd. Romney, who ran in the 2008 GOP presidential primary, is widely expected to make another run for the White House.
While other possible candidates talked about repealing healthcare in their CPAC speeches, Romney barely mentioned it.

It came up when he accused Obama and "liberals" of looking to "European solutions" to the economic crisis by increasing government spending and moving for a "takeover" of healthcare.

"It does not work there and it will never work here," Romney said. "We are an exceptional land."

The healthcare reform law could be a tough issue for Romney if he runs. While he was governor of Massachusetts, he signed that state's controversial healthcare plan — which includes an individual mandate — into law.

Some potential GOP presidential candidates have already started hitting Romney on that issue.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) told The Hill last month that "it's just hard for me to see how [Romney] gets past that [in a Republican primary]."