STEPHANOPOULOS:There was a Gallup poll this week, polling Republicans about the leadership of the Republican Party and asking who speaks for the Republican Party. And none of the above got more votes than anyone else, but Rush Limbaugh 10 percent, Newt Gingrich 10 percent, Dick Cheney 9 percent. Is it healthy that these three are seen as, by Republicans, the top spokespeople for the Republican Party today?
ROMNEY: Well, I think it's very helpful to have a lot of voices as we do. As you know, when you have the White House, you've got one single voice that speaks for your party. When you don't have the White House, you got a lot of people coming forward that speak and express their views. We have a lot of people with views that are very consistent on a number of issues. It's a good thing. You're seeing great senators come forward, congressmen, governors. Some new faces. I was just with Chris Christie in New Jersey, running for governor there. Bob McDonnell in Virginia. I think you're going to see some more voices come forward, and that gives our party the kind of energy and passion I think we're going to need to pick up some seats in the 2010 elections.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But you're also facing a demographic option. Mike Murphy, the Republican strategist, points this out in Time magazine this week. He says the Republicans are facing an ice age. And what he points to is the fact that in the last election and if you look at polling today, the Republican Party is losing young people. It is losing Latinos. It is losing well-educated Americans. That this really is a time, that if the Republican Party doesn't reform, Mike Murphy says, it will die.
How specifically should the Republican Party expand its outreach right now, become a more inclusive party for those voter groups that it is now losing?
ROMNEY: Well, what you don't do is try and change your principles. But what you do is make sure that you're communicating your principles in an effective way to the audiences of America that are listening. Hispanic-Americans ought to be voting Republican. We're the party of opportunity. We're the party of keeping taxes down. We're the party that want people to have choice in their schools and choice in their health care.
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You got to make sure that you fight very hard to get your message through. And you're right, George, in many cases, the people on the opposition said that Republicans were anti-immigrant, which -- nothing could be further from the truth. Republicans celebrate immigrants coming legally into this country, even becoming citizens. I was at a big rally in Iowa, someone stood up there and said I just got sworn in as a U.S. citizen. The crowd stood up and cheered. We're a party that loves legal immigration.
But like most Americans, we're not wild about illegal immigration. But we need to do a better job, and that's one of the advantages of having so many voices out there right now. We an find people who can get that message across.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And how about you personally, looking back at your own campaign? And it certainly seems like you're keeping the option open to run again. Looking back at your last campaign, one of your top New Hampshire supporters, Tom Rath (ph), suggested to National Journal that your problem was you lost what was your strongest selling point, the ability to be the economy's Mr. Fix-it. Do you agree with that analysis? And do you think it's something you have to fix if you're going to run again?
ROMNEY: Well, you know what, there are a lot of times that I can sit back and look back to my last campaign and say, what could I have done better. And I'm sure Tom Rath makes a good point there. I wouldn't argue with him. There are a number of things I probably would have done differently if I had the chance to do it again. But that's not the way life works. You look forward.
And I'm spending my time looking forward. I think it's critical at a time like this that we bring more balance to Washington. With an issue like health care on the docket, for instance. In Massachusetts, when we dealt with that issue, we spent two years, Republicans and Democrats, coming together. We got -- In the vote of the legislature, it was 198-2 to pass our plan. Senator Kennedy and I were there at the celebration of our plan. We did something on a deliberate and comprehensive basis that involved both parties.
We're not doing that in Washington. Republicans have been pushed aside. We need to see if we can't bring more balance to Washington. And I'm going to fight to do that in the coming year or two.
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