Mitt Romney says he wasn't surprised by the chorus of boos he received Wednesday morning when he said in a speech to the NAACP National Convention that he plans to repeal President Obama's national health care law.
"I think we expected that," Romney said in a taped interview with Fox Business Network, scheduled to air Wednesday at 8 p.m. "I am going to give the same message to the NAACP that I give across the country, which is that Obamacare is killing jobs, and if jobs is the priority, we are going to have to replace it with something that actually holds down health care costs, as opposed to something that causes more spending for the government and more spending for American families."
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According to interview excerpts released by the network, Romney said he believes he can chip away at Obama's overwhelming lead among black voters.
"I do actually," Romney said. "I spoke with a number of African-American leaders after the event, and they said a lot of folks don't want to say they are not going to vote for Barack Obama, but they are disappointed in his lack of policies to improve our schools, disappointed in urban policy, disappointed in the economy."
"I expect to get African-American votes," Romney added. "At the end of my speech having a standing ovation was generous and hospitable on the part of the audience. While we disagree on some issues, like Obamacare, [on] a lot of issues we see eye to eye."
Romney also addressed his deficit among another segment of the electorate: unmarried voters, with whom he trails by 20 percentage points.
"I don't know why that is," Romney said. "I expect by the time this campaign is over, whether you are single or married, black or white, Hispanic or non-Hispanic, you are going to recognize the policies I propose are better than the president's policies. We are seeing chronic high unemployment and we are on track to be like Europe with fiscal calamity at the doorstep."
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Callum Borchers can be reached at callum.borchers@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @callumborchers.