Filed by KOSU News in Politics.
December 21, 2011

Stumping in New Hampshire on Wednesday, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney revealed a bit about his strategies for staying in shape on the campaign trail.

“Hey, I heard you pull the cheese off your pizza to stay thin. Is that true?” asked a woman at Village Pizza in Newport, N.H., in the southwestern part of the state, where the Romney bus tour had made a stop.

“You know, on occasion, but on the campaign trail you need all the calories you can get,” laughed Romney.

“And do you run three miles a day like they say?” she asked.

“Yes, although these days I’m mostly on the treadmill,” said Romney.

“That’s alright,” she assured him.

Another woman wanted to discuss weightier issues as the state’s Republicans prepare for their Jan. 10 primary.

“It kind of concerns me, that I don’t know if you’re conservative enough to hold the line against Democrats in Congress,” the woman asked. “Can you reassure me that you actually are?”

That’s when Romney played his New England card:

“Well, there’s a little state south of here that you know called Massachusetts, and a legislature there 85 percent Democrat. And I was in office there four years as you know, didn’t raise taxes, cut taxes 19 times, balanced the budget every year for four years,” said Romney, whose campaign is predicated on winning New Hampshire.

“I made sure that our kids going to school were taught in English. We had English immersion put in place when I was governor,” Romney continued, this point to claps from at least one listener. “We also had our state police trained to enforce national immigration laws. I think if you look at my record in Massachusetts you’ll be convinced that I’m a conservative businessman who’s had the chance of helping turn a state around.” [Copyright 2011 National Public Radio]