Politics

Romney: States like Texas render national health insurance reform impossible

Steven Nelson Associate Editor
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Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney appeared Friday on Fox and Friends for an interview about his presidential campaign. On Thursday Romney officially announced his candidacy in New Hampshire.

Romney was asked to name some of the lessons that he had learned from the 2008 primary campaign. He said that there were “some things I could have changed, some things I couldn’t.”

Among the things he couldn’t was one of the major themes of the campaign, Romney said, mentioning that in 2008 a major issue was the war in Iraq, an issue that Romney said “was in John McCain’s wheel house.”

Romney said that his strength was the economy, boding well for his chances this time.

Predictably, Romney was questioned about the “Romneycare” health insurance reform that he enacted as governor. He said that it was, “right for the people of Massachusetts” and re-iterated his opposition to a national model based on the same plan.

“It’s not the model for the nation… in Massachusetts, 93 percent of people were insured,” Romney said, mentioning that fixing health insurance cannot be done nationally because of states like Texas, where Romney said 25 percent of the population is uninsured.

Asked whether he felt snubbed by Sarah Palin, who took her bus tour to New Hampshire on the day of his much-touted official announcement, Romney said that Palin was a positive force in the Republican party. “I think she adds to the energy and passion around the campaign….. when she speaks people listen.”

He shrugged off the Palin visit, saying that his official announcement was “not about getting publicity.”