[h=3]By PATRICK O'CONNOR[/h]HOUSTON—Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney drew sustained boos Wednesday when he attacked President Barack Obama in front of the country's largest civil rights organization.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee pulled few punches in delivering a variation on his standard stump speech to an occasionally hostile audience at the annual NAACP convention, enduring loud boos when he pledged to repeal "Obamacare."
The unfriendly reception continued when Mr. Romney told the crowd, "If you want a president who will make things better in the African-American community, you are looking at him."
Mr. Romney acknowledged the limitations he faced at the outset of his remarks to hundreds of members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at the group's annual convention, joking, "I just hope the Obama campaign doesn't think you're playing favorites" by letting him speak a day ahead of Vice President Joe Biden.
Indeed, the Republican faced an uphill climb in addressing the 103-year-old civil rights organization, given black support for Democrats generally and Mr. Obama in particular. In 2008, 95% of black voters cast ballots for Mr. Obama as the number of eligible black voters jumped 5%, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
One of the speakers who followed Mr. Romney complained that Republicans were taking steps to prevent black voters from casting ballots in November and wanted to slash popular safety nets, such as Social Security and Medicaid.
Mr. Romney stuck to familiar themes, touting his record in business as evidence his presidency would benefit all Americans. He even pitched promises more typical for a Republican audience with his call to repeal the health-care law and increase domestic energy consumption. But he also tailored his speech to reassure skeptical voters that his policies would benefit all Americans.
"I want you to know that if I did not believe that my policies and my leadership would help families of color—and families of any color—more than the policies and leadership of President Obama, I would not be running for president," he said.
At one point, Mr. Romney expressed sympathy for the struggles minorities still endure, even after Mr. Obama broke one of the country's biggest color barriers by becoming the first black president.
"We might have assumed the American presidency would be the very last door of opportunity to be opened," Mr. Romney said. "Of course, it hasn't happened quite that way. Many barriers remain. Old inequities persist. In some ways, the challenges are even more complicated than before."
Mr. Romney acknowledged that black Americans are struggling more than the population as a whole, with higher rates of unemployment and lower median wealth, and pledged to help.
"I am running for president because I know that my policies and vision will help hundreds of millions of middle-class Americans of all races, will lift people from poverty and will help prevent people from becoming poor," he said at one point, drawing only a smattering of light applause. "My campaign is about helping people who need help. The course the president has set has not done that—and will not do that. My course will."
The former Massachusetts governor also talked about education reform, restating his promise to give "parents of every low-income and special-needs student the chance to choose where their child goes to school." He also highlighted the importance of family and faith and quoted black civil-rights leaders of the past, from Frederick Douglass to Martin Luther King Jr.
But he pulled few punches in criticizing Mr. Obama, a tactic that won him few fans in a largely skeptical audience.
"He keeps talking about 'Obama-this, Obama-that.' We know who Obama is. Tell me what you're going to do," said Jan Johnson, an NAACP member from North Carolina. "We know there's a health-care problem in this country. Tell me what you're going to do about it."
Mrs. Johnson said she wished he would "own up" to the health-care law he signed as Massachusetts governor because it served as the template for the national law. "Once upon a time, the Republican Party was better than this," she said.
When Mr. Romney talked about funding for education, one woman in the crowd yelled, "You're going to eliminate it."
Some members were sympathetic to the challenge he faced in addressing the crowd—if not the policy prescriptions he laid out.
"One would have to admire the governor for his courage in attending the NAACP convention," said Ernest Johnson, president of the NAACP in Louisiana who worried some audience members would walk out on Mr. Romney.
Sabu Williams, president of the NAACP in Oskaloosa County, Fla., skipped the speech entirely because he didn't want to show the Republican White House hopeful any disrespect. "I commend him for coming here," Mr. Williams said. "I just didn't want to be a part of the spectacle of watching him navigate his platform through this audience."
Despite the frosty response, Mr. Romney promised he would return to the NAACP convention next year—if he's elected president and gets invited back.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee pulled few punches in delivering a variation on his standard stump speech to an occasionally hostile audience at the annual NAACP convention, enduring loud boos when he pledged to repeal "Obamacare."
The unfriendly reception continued when Mr. Romney told the crowd, "If you want a president who will make things better in the African-American community, you are looking at him."
Mr. Romney acknowledged the limitations he faced at the outset of his remarks to hundreds of members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at the group's annual convention, joking, "I just hope the Obama campaign doesn't think you're playing favorites" by letting him speak a day ahead of Vice President Joe Biden.
Indeed, the Republican faced an uphill climb in addressing the 103-year-old civil rights organization, given black support for Democrats generally and Mr. Obama in particular. In 2008, 95% of black voters cast ballots for Mr. Obama as the number of eligible black voters jumped 5%, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
One of the speakers who followed Mr. Romney complained that Republicans were taking steps to prevent black voters from casting ballots in November and wanted to slash popular safety nets, such as Social Security and Medicaid.
Mr. Romney stuck to familiar themes, touting his record in business as evidence his presidency would benefit all Americans. He even pitched promises more typical for a Republican audience with his call to repeal the health-care law and increase domestic energy consumption. But he also tailored his speech to reassure skeptical voters that his policies would benefit all Americans.
"I want you to know that if I did not believe that my policies and my leadership would help families of color—and families of any color—more than the policies and leadership of President Obama, I would not be running for president," he said.
At one point, Mr. Romney expressed sympathy for the struggles minorities still endure, even after Mr. Obama broke one of the country's biggest color barriers by becoming the first black president.
"We might have assumed the American presidency would be the very last door of opportunity to be opened," Mr. Romney said. "Of course, it hasn't happened quite that way. Many barriers remain. Old inequities persist. In some ways, the challenges are even more complicated than before."
Mr. Romney acknowledged that black Americans are struggling more than the population as a whole, with higher rates of unemployment and lower median wealth, and pledged to help.
"I am running for president because I know that my policies and vision will help hundreds of millions of middle-class Americans of all races, will lift people from poverty and will help prevent people from becoming poor," he said at one point, drawing only a smattering of light applause. "My campaign is about helping people who need help. The course the president has set has not done that—and will not do that. My course will."
The former Massachusetts governor also talked about education reform, restating his promise to give "parents of every low-income and special-needs student the chance to choose where their child goes to school." He also highlighted the importance of family and faith and quoted black civil-rights leaders of the past, from Frederick Douglass to Martin Luther King Jr.
But he pulled few punches in criticizing Mr. Obama, a tactic that won him few fans in a largely skeptical audience.
"He keeps talking about 'Obama-this, Obama-that.' We know who Obama is. Tell me what you're going to do," said Jan Johnson, an NAACP member from North Carolina. "We know there's a health-care problem in this country. Tell me what you're going to do about it."
Mrs. Johnson said she wished he would "own up" to the health-care law he signed as Massachusetts governor because it served as the template for the national law. "Once upon a time, the Republican Party was better than this," she said.
When Mr. Romney talked about funding for education, one woman in the crowd yelled, "You're going to eliminate it."
Some members were sympathetic to the challenge he faced in addressing the crowd—if not the policy prescriptions he laid out.
"One would have to admire the governor for his courage in attending the NAACP convention," said Ernest Johnson, president of the NAACP in Louisiana who worried some audience members would walk out on Mr. Romney.
Sabu Williams, president of the NAACP in Oskaloosa County, Fla., skipped the speech entirely because he didn't want to show the Republican White House hopeful any disrespect. "I commend him for coming here," Mr. Williams said. "I just didn't want to be a part of the spectacle of watching him navigate his platform through this audience."
Despite the frosty response, Mr. Romney promised he would return to the NAACP convention next year—if he's elected president and gets invited back.