The Romney family sat down with Parade magazine, which appears in many Sunday newspapers across the country as an insert, to discuss his candidacy for presidency.
Mitt Romney, speaking from his New Hampshire home revealed another reason for not releasing additional tax returns: he doesn’t want people to know how much he donates to his church. He also shared his view on who is more generous in terms of philanthropy, liberals or conservatives.
MR: I think you’ll find that conservatives are more generous philanthropically than people who are not conservatives. People who are in favor of small government are very much in favor of personal action to help other people in need.
But it seems Parade readers are actually quite interested in how his wealth and ability to connect with regular, middle class Americans will impact the way a President Romney would govern.
One reader asked about his banking plans:
Excerpt from Parade:
There were a number of questions about your financial wealth. New Jersey resident Harry H. asked if you would make this pledge: If elected, do you promise to bank in the United States?MR: My investments have been managed for almost the last 10 years by a blind trust. A trustee decides where to put our money. If I am president, my understanding is the same principle applies, that I may not direct any of my investments. I can’t tell you what my investments might be because I won’t make them. But I am happy to have every investment in the United States.
Others wanted to know if he can “relate to their struggles.”
Governor, your campaign speeches talk about the middle class, but the vast majority of the questions we received from readers asked about your ability to relate to their struggles. In essence, how do you know what it’s like to be someone without means, someone, as one reader puts it, trying to scrape by, living on food stamps? Governor Mitt Romney: Each of us faces struggles of one kind or another. Our life was not characterized by financial stress as much as it was by health issues. I served as a pastor of a congregation and saw people with various challenges and did my best to help them. I believe my experience in the private sector, the voluntary sector, and government has helped teach me what it takes to help people with different types of challenges. Maggie Murphy, editor-in-chief of Parade, joined Morning Joe Friday to describe the magazine’s second interview with Romney (interview below). “The family was there full-on. They served lobster and corn, a sort of New England boil,” Murphy said. “It’svery free-for-all. Lots of kids and lots of family. The governor is looser and more comfortable when Ann Romney is around.” The Obamas will grace the cover of Parade the following week, just in time for the Democratic National Convention.
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