Romney Makes Inroads in Exeter

Dennis Brady was one of the few Exeter voters in the crowded hall. As the event was about to begin, the retired plant manager was interested in what Mitt Romney would have to say, but he doubted that Romney was ready for the Oval Office. To him, Romney seemed too smooth.

CUT He talks in terms of the Olympics and what he’s done in Massachusetts and that’s all well and good but the presidency of this country is far more complicated than that. Far more. And I’m not sure he really sees it that way.

That sentiment is one that other Exeter voters have expressed about Romney. His words seemed designed to put those concerns to rest. The central theme of his speech was strength.

CUT We’ll have a strong military. We’ll have a strong economy which will be the envy of the world which it has been over the past five or ten decades. We’ll also have strong families. That America will rise to the occasion to be the hope of the world.

Romney wants to expand the military by at least 100,000 troops. He wants to do away with the estate tax and eliminate all taxes on the first 5 thousand dollars or so from interest, dividends and capital gains. He praised legal immigrants for boosting the American economy but said the 12 million illegal immigrants already here must –quote – get in line with everyone else that wants to come to this country.

Even though his primary race is against other Republicans, Romney took aim at Democrats. He said their path for the country is one of higher taxes and bigger government. As a prime example, he pointed to the Democratic take on health care.

CUT they point out correctly that 43 million people don’t have health insurance. Their view is, we have to have a government plan at the federal government level. A federal mandate, single payer system. Barack Obama says that means he’ll have to raise taxes. I think that’s the wrong course.

But while Romney was content to associate Democrats with socialized medicine, he went out of his way not to demonize them further. One woman asked him what he planned to do about, as she put it, liberals who in my view are fascists. Romney politely but firmly rejected her language.

CUT Liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats all love America. I’m convinced of that. I live in a state with lots of liberals, lots of Democrats and I was convinced that they love America just like I do.

He said President Bush had made mistakes in his conduct of the Iraq War but praised him for keeping the country safe since 9-11. Romney said the Patriot Act was the right approach to gaining intelligence. And while people on both sides of the aisle have criticized the use of the American base at Guantanamo for terrorist suspects, Romney spoke highly of it.

CUT I understand that when Kahlid Sheik Mohammed, the so-called master mind of the 9-11 tragedy, when he was captured, he said to his captors, “I’ll see you in New York with my lawyer.” Instead, he did not see us in New York and he did not see a lawyer. He saw a CIA interrogator and GI’s and he saw them in Guantanamo and that’s how I think it ought to be.// applause

Romney was comfortable at virtually every moment and the crowd liked what they heard. Several voters who had no particular attraction to Romney when they walked in, left saying they thought much better of him.

One of those was Dennis Brady, the man who worried that Romney was not ready for the job. We stopped by his house afterwards and talked on his screened in porch. Before the event , he was leaning towards former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani because he sees a certain toughness in the man. But Romney showed him a different quality, one that he likes. He called him decisive.

CUT I don’t get the feeling that he’s tough, but he may be. He might be the kind of guy that holds people in a room until they make a decision. And gets the problem taken care of. And that’s good because we don’t have that right now.

Dennis says he agreed with practically everything that Romney had to say. He still wants to learn more and he’s looking forward to seeing Giuliani. That could be critical. Dennis says there’s nothing like seeing candidates in person to help you size them up.

For NHPR News, I’m Jon Greenberg.