SAN DIEGO — Mitt Romney stepped back into the political arena Friday night, reborn as a prospective presidential candidate with a message almost as surprising as his apparent desire to run again for the White House.
From the man pilloried for describing 47 percent of the population as people who act like victims, are dependent on the government and are not willing to take personal control of their own lives, came a domestic economic message that focused on the problem of stagnant wages, the plight of a struggling middle class and a pledge to eradicate poverty in America.
In its broadest strokes and aspirations, what Romney outlined was an agenda that many Americans, Republicans and Democrats alike, likely could applaud. For the former Massachusetts governor, the question that will come quickly is whether he has the credibility, given his past campaigns, to persuasively deliver that message. In other words: Is this the authentic Mitt Romney?
Romney laid out this vision aboard the USS Midway, which is permanently docked as a museum in downtown San Diego, at a reception that marked the capstone of a Republican National Committee meeting rich in presidential intrigue and possibilities.