Romney critical of Obama on Middle East policy, jobs creation

By Delen Goldberg

Saturday, April 2, 2011 | 4:21 p.m.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney blasted President Barack Obama for being a weak leader and inexperienced negotiator during a speech Saturday in Las Vegas.

The presumed Republican presidential candidate spoke off the cuff to members of the Republican Jewish Coalition, an influential GOP advocacy and fund-raising group, which gathered at the Venetian for an annual leadership convention.

Romney remained cagey about his political ambitions, but the tone of his speech clearly signaled his desire to be president. His criticism of Obama was constant and scathing.

On foreign policy, Romney said Obama "is following an unusual belief that we all have common interests. I don't think he understands that ... some people want to oppress, some people want to exploit and some people want to kill other people."

Romney added that Obama's inexperience as a negotiator contributed to a breakdown in the Middle East peace process.

The president's lackluster support of Israel dampened Palestinian leaders' drive to negotiate because they figured the United States could help them cut a better deal, and Israel stepped back from the negotiating table because of its lack of confidence in American support, Romney said.

On domestic policy, Romney accused Obama of protecting government jobs instead of promoting private-sector enterprise. He said the president failed to focus on the most important task of job creation and instead delegated the responsibility to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and then-Assembly Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who led passage of the failed stimulus bill.

On health care reform, Romney said he "would never do what Obama did" to legislate a comprehensive national health care system. In fact, Romney said his first action as president would be to grant waivers for every state to free them from the obligations of "Obamacare," and his second would be to get the bill repealed.

Romney is coming down hard on the Affordable Care Act as he tests the water for a second presidential run, a preemptive strategy meant to stave off criticism about a similar bill he authored while governor of Massachusetts.

Romney said his bill was different because it was a state measure, not a national mandate.

And he challenged Obama for failing to reach out to ask him which parts of the Massachusetts law worked and which didn't.

"Why didn't you call me?" he asked of Obama."Why didn't you ask what was wrong? I would have told him, 'What you're doing, Mr. President, is going to bankrupt us."

Romney even threw in a dig about comments Obama made while visiting Nevada in which he warned people to think twice before they "blow a bunch of cash" in Las Vegas. Obama is scheduled to visit Reno later this month.

"Let's hope he comes ... and does the right thing and invites Americans back to Las Vegas," Romney said.

Romney has been a regular visitor to Nevada in recent months. He campaigned for Republican candidates during the November elections, spoke earlier this year at a franchise industry convention on the Strip, and on Friday

toured a North Las Vegas neighborhood hit hard by foreclosures.

It's no coincidence. Nevada will be the third state to hold a Republican caucus, and candidates already are lining up to win local GOP support.

That's a new phenomenon that will erase an advantage Romney had in 2008. He easily won the state caucus that year, earning more than half the votes, but he was the only candidate who put serious effort into campaigning in Nevada.

Republican leaders recently changed caucus rules to make delegates' votes proportional rather than winner takes all, so Nevada in 2012 will be a much more crowded campaign ground.

Romney also will likely face a formidable opponent in former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, a popular Mormon politician who could challenge Romney for his LDS base. In the 2008 Republican presidential caucus, Mormons made up a quarter of the vote and Romney, who also is a Mormon, captured 94 percent of their support.