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Mitt’s moving to the middle.
In a nod to undecided voters, Mitt Romney dished out praise yesterday not only to former President Bill Clinton, but to President Obama.
The former Massachusetts governor, who is tied or slightly trailing Obama in most polls, even said there are items in the ObamaCare law that he would keep on the books.
“Well, I’m not getting rid of all of health-care reform,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press.’’
“Of course, there are number of things that I like in health-care reform that I’m going to put in place.
“One is to make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage. Two is to assure that the marketplace allows for individuals to have policies that cover their family up to whatever age they might like.”
Throughout the primary season, Romney had campaigned on the promise that his first act as president would be the repeal of ObamaCare.
“Romney is basically saying, ‘I am against ObamaCare except for the most popular parts.’ Unfortunately, you can’t leave these two things in place and get rid of the rest,” said Charlie Cook of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report in Washington.
The Obama campaign pounced on Romney’s remarks, citing a July 2012 interview with the Toledo Blade in which he said allowing parents to keep their children covered up to age 26 was unnecessary. The president’s campaign also pointed out that Romney’s plan allows insurers to deny coverage to previously uninsured people.
“His promises today should be seen for what they are: a cynical attempt to mislead the American people on the devastating impact his policies would actually have,” said Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith.
On other issues:
* Romney said Obama “deserves credit for giving the order for the SEAL Team Six to go after bin Laden and take him out. That’s absolutely right.” But he criticized the president for not acting more forcefully to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
* He praised Clinton for urging more bipartisanship in his speech last week. “I think he, Clinton, really did elevate the Democratic convention in a lot of ways,” Romney said. He then hinted that Clinton’s performance may have overshadowed Obama’s.
* Romney also tried to soften his opposition to the auto bailout, which had angered many in the swing state of Michigan, by saying he had called only for General Motors to declare bankruptcy.
Additional reporting by Gerry Shields