Monday, October 20, 2008

Romney not ready to call Obama a socialist

Mitt Romney agreed this afternoon with one-time rival John McCain that Colin Powell's endorsement of Democrat Barack Obama is outweighed by McCain having the support of four other former secretaries of state.

But Romney wouldn't go as far as McCain and running mate Sarah Palin in suggesting that Obama is a socialist because of his tax cut proposals.

The former Massachusetts governor, who is now one of McCain's chief surrogates, said on CNN, "You know, Colin Powell is entitled to his opinion and I'll go with the majority opinion of the other four."

Asked if he believes Obama is a socialist, Romney replied, "I'd say he's a real liberal. He's not in the mainstream of the Democratic Party. I think he's more liberal than that. I don't think mainstream Democrats like Hillary Clinton, would be excited about the proposals he's made. And I think his comment about redistributing income is one which would certainly scare a lot of people. Certainly scare away a lot of jobs, hurt the creation of small businesses, which is of course, been the source of job growth in our country.

"So, I think he's off of the left wing of the party. And after all, that's how his votes have also lined up," Romney added.

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