Inside Politics

Romney’s response

Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, who is weighing a White House bid, dismissed criticism that he has flip-flopped on the issues of same-sex “marriage” and abortion and has reaffirmed his opposition to both.

“Like the vast majority of Americans, I’ve opposed same-sex marriage, but I’ve also opposed unjust discrimination against anyone, for racial or religious reasons, or for sexual preference,” Mr. Romney said in an interview with the National Review magazine published online yesterday.

Regarding abortion, Mr. Romney said — as he has said previously — that although he campaigned for governor as pro-choice, he changed his position several years ago after being briefed on embryonic stem-cell research.

“I’m committed to promoting the culture of life,” the Massachusetts governor told the conservative magazine. “Like Ronald Reagan and Henry Hyde and others who became pro-life, I had this issue wrong in the past.”

The comments were Mr. Romney’s first public explanation of his stance on the two key social issues since the publication last week of a 1994 letter — sent in the final weeks of his failed campaign against Sen. Edward M. Kennedy — in which he cited his sensitivity to the concerns of Log Cabin Republicans, the Republican homosexual group.

Kerry’s big trip

Sen. John Kerry told reporters in Egypt yesterday that the United States should talk to Syria and Iran.

Mr. Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, said he thought U.S. policy in the Middle East was in trouble, partly because the United States had failed to listen to people in the region, Reuters news agency reports.

He cited Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s advice in 2002 that a U.S. invasion of Iraq would lead to disaster. “Frankly, more people should have listened to him,” he said after talks in Cairo with Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif.

“It’s very important for countries to talk to each other, even when you disagree. We have serious differences with Syria right now, we have serious differences with Iran, but you can’t begin to resolve those differences if you’re not willing to try to understand. I think it’s important to begin a discussion,” Mr. Kerry said.

Mr. Kerry left the United States on Wednesday for a nine-day visit to the Middle East, including Iraq and a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, but not a visit to Iran.

Fellow Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida met Mr. Assad in Damascus on Wednesday and said he saw an opening for dialogue with Syria.

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