Mitt Romney, a Republican who actually likes granola!

Would-be-president  Mitt Romney starts every morning with a bowl of granola with oats, honey, sesame seeds and almonds. Every other morning he jogs three miles. "And then at the end of the day," Romney tells Jay Leno on tonight's "Tonight Show" on NBC, "just to really relax, I take off a dark suit like this and put on a light one."

(Laughter)

Fresh off his Michigan GOP primary victory and on the eve of the South Carolina Republican primary and the Nevada caucuses, Romney was making fun of his own stiff image. The other day on the stump Romney asked his wife Ann to muss up his famously-perfect hair. But she wouldn't.

As usual, Leno asks a wide range of topical questions. Romney said his confrontation with an AP reporter Thursday was "a normal thing. These guys have a responsibility to be adversarial, and, you know, we don't treat them real well.  The guys that follow us in the presidential race come in a whole group.  We put them ...

in the back of the aircraft.  We feed them lousy food.  We wake them up early in the morning to go to events, and then as you'll see in this clip, I think, we don't give them chairs to sit on either.  So they have a tough go of it, but they're doing their job.

"I respect the fact they've got to ask me tough questions and get in my face, but if I don't agree, I'm going to come back hard as well.  That's just the nature of the way it ought to be."

Romney said his "Washington is broken" theme came from numerous conversations with Michigan voters. He said you compete for jobs globally by "taking the anvil off the necks of our employers. Taxes are too high on our companies. We put a lot of regulations on them. Around the world the playing field that we compete on is not level."

He told Leno, an inveterate car collector, that if he just bought a few more each year, the Michigan economy would come back. "Last year," Romney said, "American corporations ‑‑ this is a startling statistic, I think ‑‑ spent more money defending tort lawsuits than they spent on research and development."

Romney said he agreed on the need for an economic stimulus package, and that he thought too many corporate executives are paid too much without delivering and that conventional political wisdom is out the window this year. He said the Democratic field had narrowed to two candidates -- Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- while five Republicans were about even.

Leno asked if Romney thought Fred Thompson would be back on "Law & Order" by the end of this year. "I hope so," said Romney.

The former Massachusetts governor said the U.S. maintained the world's strongest military, but its economy had weakened somewhat in recent years competing against Asian nations that don't always follow the rules. But he said he was always optimistic.

"We can do it," he said. "America can compete anywhere in the world.  We can win.  We have won.  We will always be the leader as long as we make sure that the government finally gets off its duff and finally fixes what's wrong in Washington."

Romney also said if the president thing didn't work out, he would like to have Leno's job. "But I'm not good enough for it," he admitted.

A complete transcript of tonight's Leno-Romney interview is available here.

--Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[Dan]

He seemed a little stiff at the beginning of the interview, but after the break he seemed much more relaxed and personable.

[Dan Campbell]

Search "Mitt Romney and Glen Johnson"

2 days ago Mitt Romney was called out about his lies. Mitt went wacko and started an altercation. Watch Mitt threaten the reporter. No one in their right mind would vote for Mitt with all of the flip flops and negative deceitful tricks he has played in this race.

Dont vote for this slimeball

(Dan, you need to check our blog more often. We already had this news. And it was an argument, no threats.)

[Jake W Garn]

Mr. Campbell is just one more cynic out there without a clue. I will agree that Gov. Romney got a little defensive with the reporter. However, he also talked with him after and invited him to talk in more detail later. Gov. Romney called him by name, "Glen" and at no time did he disrespect him. He didn't blow him off or ignore his question, but answered the question with a specific and honest answer., like it or not

Mr. Campbell ends with the classic name calling stick. I believe most voters are more thoughtful and discerning than many bloggers appear to be. We have a right to support whoever we want, but calling any candidate names is nothing more than childish behavior in its lowest form. All the candidates deserve the same common decency whether we agree with them or not.

It is important to be skeptical, but not cynical. I don't agree with all the candidates positions. I think they have different talents, experiences and abilities. Having said that, I admire and respect everyone of them for having the courage and will to put out their name to abuse and ridicule, in order to serve the people of the United States as President. I honestly believe all the candidates are offering to serve for the right reasons.

Perhaps Mr. Campbell and others of his ilk, should consider serving the public in some civic capacity. Perhaps then they would be a little less cynical and a little more discerning with some honest skeptism based on issues and not personal attacks. which also happen to be completely false.

[George Spite]

Hillary touts her 35 years of experience as a strength. That is respectable but her only experience is in legislative and first lady functions. And most of that experience is not available for review - documents covering her time in the White House. Does anyone have access to her failed health care plan details?

Mitt on the other hand has administrative experience in both government and private enterprise. He has turned around companies and the Olympics for the better. He has dealt with legislatures in Massachusetts as Governor. He has multifaceted experience.

Hillary's experience in business is working with business lobbyists as a Senator. Not exactly a daunting task.

Few of the candidates have business or administrative experience - Huckabee was a Governor but has no business experience.

We need to get a fresh non-Washington person in the White House. Preferrably someone with both business and governing credentials. Mitt is it.

"Remember when you hear the word Government can take care of that problem, substitute the word Taxpayer for Government."

[Nate]

What a cool guy.

I respect anyone that can get up early every morning, eat healthy, and excercise. On top of that Romney is intelligent and listens to the American people. If Romney flip-flops, it is because the American people flip-flop. He is simply trying to do what the American people want him to do; we may have forgotten but isn't that what politicians are for? To represent our interests? We don't need a heavy-handed leader, that is what they do in Russia not America.

Nate

[RON]

LET'S SEE WE EITHER KEEP ALLOWING THE ASIAN ECONOMIES LIKE CHINA TO ARTIFICALLY KEEP THEIR CURRENCY LOW SO THEY CAN SELL MORE GOODS TO US THEREBY REPLACING U.S. CORPORATE JOBS AND INCREASING OUR DEFICIT AND WEAKENING OUR OWN DOLLAR AND THEREFORE THE VALUE OF OUR HOMES AND EVERYTHING ELSE WE OWN IN GLOBAL TERMS, OR WE CAN VOTE FOR MITT ROMNEY.

LET'S VOTE FOR MITT ROMNEY

[jj]

Dan, I read this same email from you on another blog and someone effectively proved you wrong. Who are you working for?

[Tyson]

I'm sorry, but that reporter was completely out of line. To interupt a candidate for the presidency of the United States in the middle of his speach is beyond rude and arrogant.

If the reporter felt the question needed to be asked he should have either waited until Mr. Romney asked for questions or just thrown out his baseless attacks in his news articles like the rest of the MSM.

Whether or not Mr. Romney allows lobbyists to follow him around or even listens to what they may have to say is completely irrelevant to the point Mr. Romney was making. The MSM needs to spend more time looking at real issues and less time trying to make up issues with "gotcha" word politics.

[Barbie]

Malibu Romney, Romney Dream House. Tax-and -spend Romney, Socialized-medicine Romney. Foreign-Adventure Romney.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBtL3NIcAvU

[CALIFORNIAMARTY]

Mitt Romney is first a man who knows how to solve the extremely serious economic problems facing us today. A valedictorian with a BA from BYU and an MBA and JD earned simultaneously at Harvard, summa cum laude and cum laude Romney led a company that produced hundreds of thousands of jobs by creating businesses such as Staples, Timberline and even the extraordinary Dominoes Pizza.
As Governor, serving without pay, Romney brought Massachusetts a budget surplus and kept their educational system the best in the nation leading in Math and English and Science, while creating the only state health insurance program (other than Hawaii which got a waiver) that is not being litigated in the courts as illegal under ERISA.

When the Salt Lake City Olympics was scandal ridden and about to go bankrupt they begged for his help and he gave it. Donating his $850,000 paycheck to charity and with a series of moves he brought the Olympics back into a several hundreds of million-dollar winner. He even donated 1 million to the cause.

His personal Christian theology is and should be irrelevant (except maybe for the fact that Romney possesses, as do most Mormons, strong work ethics, family values, and highly moral character traits) but the media cannot stop mentioning it. (Note this well: 16 members of the House and Senate are LDS. They do NOT VOTE IN LOCKSTEP. From Sen. Leader Harry Reid on the left to highly regarded Sen. Orin Hatch on the right they all have on thing in common. They do NOT mix their religious theology with their duties, contrary to unemployed preacher Mike Huckabee who stirs up bigotry against the LDS whenever he can by his slippery snide remarks and wants, he says, to have his religion to control his actions.

We need a strong leader on immigration, the economy and the war on terror. We need a man like Mitt Romney, a man with proven experience not just a candidate like Barak Obama, who has a gift of oratory but with no accompanying record of accomplishments. We also do not need another scandal-ridden presidency as that of the Clintons.

Mitt Romney has been attacked because he has earned an estimated 250 million dollars from his business acumen, not from making speeches at 10 thousand a throw like Huckabee and 150 thousand each to the United Arab Emirates, in Dubai, like Clinton. He is beholden to no special interests and cannot be bought.

I want an experienced surgeon for any operation, not an intern and I want an experienced proven leader for my President.

[Western States]

"Mitt Romney, a Republican who actually likes granola!"

As a Republican, I accuse Mitt of Treason! This just shows what spending all those years in Boston has done. Come out west Mitt. I've got a bag of Pepper Teriaki Buffallo Jerkey here for you. Eggs. Ham. Hashbrowns. That is what real Republicans like Carl Rove eat.

Mitt, before it is to late, turn away from the granola side and have some steak and eggs! If you don't look out, you will find yourself an ex-president, 93 years old and living on a barrior island off the coast of Florida with Limbaugh.

[Ron]

Wow, While Romney is eating Granola, Ron Paul is working for America. I'm hope that Granola is helping Romney stay consistent on the issues. I can't wait for the next debate. Ron Paul's going to take him to school again.

[Rick]

Broadcasting from our basement head quarters in Florida. Our sources have informed us that Mike Huckabee has arrived at the American Airlines terminal after his limousine drove the wrong way down the run way. Fresh from his trip to Russel Griswald's cottage in the south of France, Huckabee looks determined to keep the debate lively. The Governor has recently left Republicans scratching their.... (banging on door) Due to a disgruntled door-to-door salesman banging on the door to the basement and yelling "I'm glad you think that's funny because I've got the militia with me and their ready to shut you up!" we will temporarily be off the air. I'm typing this as I run to the secret exit. Good night and good truth hunting!