Mitt Romney on Meet The Press

Romney was impressive responding to Tim Russert's questions on this week's Meet The Press (read the full transcript here). He seemed to have a command of the facts and responded effectively to the hosts tough questions. It was quite a contrast from Giuliani's much talked about whipping received last week on the same program:

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” today that he wept with relief when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Mormon church, announced a 1978 revelation that the priesthood would no longer be denied to persons of African descent.

Romney’s eyes appeared to fill with tears as he discussed the emotional subject during a high-stakes appearance that he handled with no major blunders.

[...]Romney said former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has passed him in many polls in the GOP presidential race, should apologize for his statement in Foreign Affairs magazine that the Bush administration has an “arrogant bunker mentality.”

“That’s an insult to the president, and Mike Huckabee should apologize to the president,” Romney said.

[...]Asked if he could assure voters he would not flip back to positions he held in Massachusetts, Romney replied: “Of course.”

“Tim, if you’re looking for someone who’s never changed any position on any policy, then I’m not your guy,” Romney said. “I do learn from experience. If you want someone who doesn’t learn from experience, who stubbornly takes a position on a particular act and says, ‘Well, I’m never changing my view based on what I’ve learned,’ that doesn’t make sense to me.”

Regarding his flip-flop on abortion rights from the time he was running for office in Massachusetts, Romney said he thinks “almost everyone in this nation” opposes abortion.

“I was always personally opposed to abortion, as I think almost everyone in this nation is,” he said, adding that the question for him was “the role of government.”

Romney said he hopes the U.S. ultimately bans abortion but says the country is not to that point and he is not advocating that.

He was asked about his recent speech in where he says that religion was essential to freedom:

Asked about the statement in his recent speech that “freedom requires religion,” Romney elaborated: “Long-term, for America to remain a great nation, to lead the world, we must have a recognition of our religious faith. Now that’s, of course, not a particular denomination.”

Russert asked, “Can you be a moral person and be an atheist?”

Romney replied, “Oh, of course. Of course.”

Romney pledged he would have “no litmus test” about faith for nominees to the Supreme Court, or for such jobs as Secretary of Education.

“Of course not,” Romney said.