FAIRFAX, Va. — A day after he refused to endorse an Ohio ballot measure that limits public employee union rights, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said Wednesday that he is “110 percent” behind the effort.
While he was in Ohio on Tuesday, Romney seemed to distance himself from union restrictions. Campaigning a day later, the former Massachusetts governor told reporters that he supports a ballot measure known as Issue Two aimed at restricting collective-bargaining rights for 350,000 public workers such as teachers, firefighters and police officers.
“I’m sorry if I created any confusion in that regard. I fully support Gov. [John] Kasich’s - I think it’s called Question Two in Ohio. Fully support that,” Romney said,referring to the Issue Two ballot initiative, after visiting a local Republican office in the Washington suburbs. “Actually, on my website, I think back as early as April, I laid out that I support Question Two and Gov. Kasich’s effort to restrict collective bargaining in Ohio.”
In June, Romney praised Kasich’s efforts to “limit the power of union bosses and keep taxes low.”
“I stand with John R. Kasich and Ohio’s leaders as they take on this important fight to get control of government spending,” Romney wrote on his Facebook account then.
This week, Romney’s rivals criticized him for not supporting the measure.
“As a true conservative, I stand with Gov. Kasich in promoting S.B.5 for fiscal responsibility and job creation in Ohio,” Texas Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement. “Gov. Kasich and the Republican leadership of Ohio are to be commended for their efforts.”
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman told ABC News that Romney failed to show leadership.
“This is a time when if you are going to be president of the United States, you show a little presidential leadership. That’s by taking a position and leading out - sometimes there is a risk associated with taking a position, but that’s all part of leadership,” he said.
On Wednesday, Romney answered the criticism.
“I know there are other ballot questions in Ohio. I wasn’t taking a position on those,” Romney said after meeting with volunteers. “I am 110 percent behind Gov. Kasich and in support of that question.”
Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern called it “an epic re-reversal.”
“Such lack of character is a slap in the face to Ohioans and says everything you need to know about the serial flipflopper Mitt Romney,” Redfern said.
Romney first spoke Tuesday during an appearance near Cincinnati.
“I am not speaking about the particular ballot issues,” Romney said.
“Those are up to the people of Ohio. But I certainly support the efforts of the governor to rein in the scale of government. I am not terribly familiar with the two ballot initiatives. But I am certainly supportive of the Republican Party’s efforts here.”
On Wednesday, Romney sidestepped questions about a separate ballot measure that would exempt Ohioans from President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul requirement that individuals have health insurance.
“I’ve said that should be up to individual states. I, of course, took my state in one direction. They may want to go in a different direction,” Romney said.
“I don’t want to tell them what I think they ought to do in that regard.”
BACHMANN PAPERWORK
Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota mailed her paperwork to get on New Hampshire’s presidential primary ballot instead of showing up in person or having someone else do it for her.
Though Bachmann could have signed up herself, sending a staff member wasn’t an option because all five of her paid New Hampshire staff members quit last week, complaining that they were kept out of the loop and treated rudely by her national campaign team.
Most of the major candidates have filed in person, although Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and Georgia businessman Herman Cain sent campaign workers instead.
Bachmann, who has been focused on Iowa, said Wednesday that she looks forward to sharing her message with more New Hampshire voters.
GOP BICKERING
Newt Gingrich on Wednesday said bickering among Republican presidential candidates is a turnoff for Americans already repulsed by Washington political gridlock.
Gingrich said on CBS’ The Early Show that harsh exchanges between Romney and Perry at the Las Vegas debate were unbecoming.
He said “you have to have some sense of maturity and some sense of seriousness.” He added that “it hurt everybody to have bickering going on the way it was going on in that debate.”
Gingrich said “the American people deserve a chance to see us act in a mature and responsible way.”
The former House speaker said he’s looking forward to a one-on-one debate early next month in Texas with Cain.
CONFEDERATE PLATES
Perry said Wednesday that he opposes Texas allowing specialty license plates featuring the Confederate flag, despite his past defense of the historical value of Confederacy symbols.
The Republican presidential hopeful was in Florida for a fundraiser and told Bay News 9’s Political Connections and the St. Petersburg Times that “we don’t need to be opening old wounds.”
The license plates have been requested by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a nonprofit that Perry has supported over the years.
The plates show the group’s logo, which is derived from the Confederate battle flag.
A Texas Department of Motor Vehicles board must approve the license plates, but its nine members are Perry appointees. They tied 4-4 on a vote on the matter in April because one member was absent, and the panel could take up the issue again next month.
It was the first time the governor has publicly commented about the proposed plate, with his office saying previously that it was a matter for the board.
Perry’s comments Wednesday come after he drew criticism over a rock outside the Texas hunting camp that his family once leased that was painted with the name “Niggerhead.”
Perry’s campaign says the governor’s father painted over the rock to cover the name soon after he began leasing the site in the early 1980s and says the Perry family never controlled, owned or managed the property.
But rival Cain, the only black Republican in the race, has said the rock symbolizes Perry’s insensitivity to race.
Information for this article was contributed by Philip Elliott, Holly Ramer and Will Weissert of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 10/27/2011