Mitt Romney

Background

Born March 12, 1947, in Detroit. An investment banker, he received a bachelor of arts degree from Brigham Young University in 1971, an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1975 and a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1975. He served as governor of Massachusetts from 2003-2007. He chaired the Republican Governors Association from 2005-2006. He was president and chief executive of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Married with five children.

Issues

He defended the 2008 bailout of financial institutions as a necessary step to avoid the system's collapse, criticized the bailout of General Motors and Chrysler and said any such aid should not single out specific companies. He would cap federal spending at 20 percent of gross domestic product, down from today's recession-swollen 25 percent. He wants lower taxes, less regulation, a balanced budget and more trade deals to spur growth. He favors a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. He promises to work for the repeal of the federal health care law modeled largely after his universal health care achievement in Massachusetts because he says states, not Washington, should drive policy on the uninsured. On Social Security, he says raising the age for benefits and reducing inflation adjustments for rich retirees are options that should be considered. He believes no one with adjusted gross income under $200,000 should be taxed on interest, dividends or capital gains, and would cut the corporate tax rate to 25 percent from a high of 35 percent. He says President Barack Obama was wrong to begin reducing troop levels as soon as he did in Afghanistan.