Romney: Campaign gaffes ‘will haunt me a lot’

WASHINGTON -- After an intense GOP primary that spawned a number of awkward statements by Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee now says he’s “haunted” by some of his gaffes.

Romney talked by phone recently with the Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan and he told the columnist that some of his past mistakes “make me want to kick myself in the seat of my pants.”

For example: “I like to be able to fire people,” a comment he made in the days leading up to the New Hampshire primary, which was taken out of context but still provided fodder for rivals who sought to cast him as an out-of-touch rich guy.

Comments like that one “cause me to try and be a little more careful in what I say,” Romney told Noonan.

“I’ve had a couple of those during the campaign, which have haunted me a little bit, but I’m sure before this is over will haunt me a lot,” he said.

The pink slip comment was the only one named specifically in Noonan’s column, but there are a number of other verbal slips that will likely follow Romney into November.
kim.geiger@latimes.com