Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Friday touted his moral beliefs and said he would make reforms as president to clean up America and encourage stronger families.
The former Massachusetts governor addressed childbirth to unwed mothers, pornography and violent video games in a talk with about 100 people at a restaurant in Denison in western Iowa.
Romney called for teaching children that marriage should come before pregnancy.
"In our cities today, in many of them, the majority of them being born are born without the benefit of a mom and a dad. Our children deserve moms and dads," Romney said. "We also need to make sure that they are raised in a setting that gives them the values that can encourage them to have a great future."
Romney said he'd push for the enforcement of obscenity laws, get tough on retailers who sell violent video games to kids and secure the Internet from predators and pornographers who target kids. If someone uses the Web to sexually assault a child, he said there should be stiff consequences.
"I'll call it one strike and your ours because I want to put them in jail for a long time and then put an ankle bracelet on them and a GPS transponder so that we know where they are for the rest of their lives," he said. "We need to clean up the waters in which are kids are growing up."
Romney said America's future is brighter than ever and that "America is going to reject the idea of turning left."
When asked later about his background heading a liberal state, Romney acknowledged that he's likely "not the most conservative on every issue" in the field, but he considers his roots "pretty darned conservative."
He noted he had changed his view and now opposes abortion rights, and he supports the right to bear arms. He also said he is adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage but would not discriminate based on sexual orientation.
"I'll try and make sure they have equal opportunity and are not discriminated against, but I do believe that marriage is between a man and a woman," he said.
Among those at the gathering was Mark and Linda Spiegel, of Charter Oak, whose daughter is president of the Young Republicans chapter at the University of Northern Iowa and works as an intern for the Romney campaign.
"He's in the same ballpark that we are. I agree with what he's going with," said Linda Spiegel, a nurse.
Her husband, a farmer, said he wants to know more about where Republican candidates stand on moral issues.
"I think as far as the candidates now, seeing which ones have the highest Christian values and seeing where their priorities lie," he said. "Leadership, abortion, marriages, things like that."
During a question and answer period, Romney was asked about the CIA's interrogation techniques. He said he doesn't advocate torture but in situations of a "ticking time bomb," he thinks more intense methods should be allowed.
"I do support enhanced interrogation techniques to learn from the terrorist what we need to learn to keep the bombs from going off," he said.
Romney added that recent attacks planned in Britain by foreign medical professionals living there was "the face of horror."
"The face of evil hasn't been seen like this in Europe, in my view, well since the terror chambers of Hitler, and I was shocked," he said. "Now our president, for all the criticism he receives, has kept America safe these last six years."
Romney said when suspected terrorists are detained, President Bush has made sure they were successfully interrogated. He also complimented Bush on the USA Patriot Act, which gave law enforcement greater authority.
"He made sure someone here was listening," Romney said. "... So, I want to say thank you to the president for keeping us safe."
Romney was beginning a two-day trip through western and northern Iowa.
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