[h=3]By JESSICA HOLZER[/h]Republican Mitt Romney, in his first television interview since he lost November's presidential election, said a failure to connect with minority voters doomed his bid for the White House.
"We weren't effective in taking my message primarily to minority voters—to Hispanic-Americans, to African-Americans, other minorities," Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, told Fox News in an interview that aired Sunday. "That was a real weakness."
Mr. Romney garnered 27% of the Hispanic vote, compared with the 31% that Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) got in 2008 and the 44% that Republican President George W. Bush received in 2004, according to national exit polls. Mr. Romney received 6% of the African-American vote.
Mr. Romney said he underestimated the appeal of President Barack Obama's health-care law to minority voters. And he argued his party must do more to bring such voters into the GOP fold, suggesting the challenge was one of outreach rather than party platform.
"We've got to do a better job taking our message to them to help them understand why we're the party with the ideas that will make their life better," he said.
The interview marks Mr. Romney's return to the national stage after a bruising election that most political observers said was winnable for the Republican, given the country's economic struggles.
Mr. Romney said his defeat hurt his standing in the party, but he said he would nonetheless seek a role helping Republicans bounce back. "I'm not going to disappear," he said. "Sitting on the sidelines when so much is at stake just isn't my nature."
Reflecting on his loss, Mr. Romney said "it kills me" not to be in the White House. But he also insisted he wasn't dwelling on the defeat. "You move on. I don't spend my life looking back," he said.
Ann Romney, who sat alongside her husband for part of the interview, said she is still lamenting the defeat and has cried in the months since the election.
"When you pour that much of your life and energy and passion into something, and you're disappointed by the outcome, it's sad," she said. "It's very hard."
Mrs. Romney said her sorrow didn't stem from the failure to attain a personal goal but rather from a lost opportunity to serve the country. "The dream was to make a difference; the dream was to serve," she said.
Mr. Romney expressed remorse over comments he made during the campaign in which he argued that 47% of Americans saw themselves as "victims" who are dependent on government, and therefore would vote for Mr. Obama. The remarks were secretly recorded during a private dinner where Mr. Romney was addressing donors.
It was "a very unfortunate statement that I made," he said. "It was very harmful. What I said is not what I believe."
Mr. Romney rejected the view that the protracted Republican primary forced him to campaign so far to the political right that he alienated independent voters in the general election. But he said he may have been hurt by attacks from his Republican opponents.
He dismissed the suggestion that New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie's effusive praise for Mr. Obama during superstorm Sandy's aftermath, shortly before the election, shifted momentum toward the president.
"I lost my election because of my campaign, not because of what anyone else did," Mr. Romney said.
Write to Jessica Holzer at [email protected]
"We weren't effective in taking my message primarily to minority voters—to Hispanic-Americans, to African-Americans, other minorities," Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, told Fox News in an interview that aired Sunday. "That was a real weakness."
Mr. Romney garnered 27% of the Hispanic vote, compared with the 31% that Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) got in 2008 and the 44% that Republican President George W. Bush received in 2004, according to national exit polls. Mr. Romney received 6% of the African-American vote.
Mr. Romney said he underestimated the appeal of President Barack Obama's health-care law to minority voters. And he argued his party must do more to bring such voters into the GOP fold, suggesting the challenge was one of outreach rather than party platform.
"We've got to do a better job taking our message to them to help them understand why we're the party with the ideas that will make their life better," he said.
The interview marks Mr. Romney's return to the national stage after a bruising election that most political observers said was winnable for the Republican, given the country's economic struggles.
Mr. Romney said his defeat hurt his standing in the party, but he said he would nonetheless seek a role helping Republicans bounce back. "I'm not going to disappear," he said. "Sitting on the sidelines when so much is at stake just isn't my nature."
Reflecting on his loss, Mr. Romney said "it kills me" not to be in the White House. But he also insisted he wasn't dwelling on the defeat. "You move on. I don't spend my life looking back," he said.
Ann Romney, who sat alongside her husband for part of the interview, said she is still lamenting the defeat and has cried in the months since the election.
"When you pour that much of your life and energy and passion into something, and you're disappointed by the outcome, it's sad," she said. "It's very hard."
Mrs. Romney said her sorrow didn't stem from the failure to attain a personal goal but rather from a lost opportunity to serve the country. "The dream was to make a difference; the dream was to serve," she said.
Mr. Romney expressed remorse over comments he made during the campaign in which he argued that 47% of Americans saw themselves as "victims" who are dependent on government, and therefore would vote for Mr. Obama. The remarks were secretly recorded during a private dinner where Mr. Romney was addressing donors.
It was "a very unfortunate statement that I made," he said. "It was very harmful. What I said is not what I believe."
Mr. Romney rejected the view that the protracted Republican primary forced him to campaign so far to the political right that he alienated independent voters in the general election. But he said he may have been hurt by attacks from his Republican opponents.
He dismissed the suggestion that New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie's effusive praise for Mr. Obama during superstorm Sandy's aftermath, shortly before the election, shifted momentum toward the president.
"I lost my election because of my campaign, not because of what anyone else did," Mr. Romney said.
Write to Jessica Holzer at [email protected]