Romney Talks Court And Count Chocula

Republican Mitt Romney said he would not necessarily have to agree politically with any appointees he would seek to place on the Supreme Court, but he would expect them to be strict legal constructionists in the model of Chief Justice John Roberts. "Whether they agree with me on issues or not is not the key thing; the key is do they follow the law and do they follow the Constitution, because if they follow the law and the Constitution, then we have a democracy where the people are able to guide the course of our nation," the former Massachusetts governor said in his first online townhall forum. Romney listed three other conservatives jurists — Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito — as model appointees to the nation's highest court. The 45-minute session was shown via streaming video over the Web from a studio in New York, where Romney spent the day fundraising. Sitting on a director's chair, he listened as one of his daughters-in-law, Mary, read aloud questions sent either through the computer or cell phone text message.The queries ranged from the curious ("Is Mitt your real name or a nickname?" It is his middle name), to the bizarre ("What is your favorite sweet cereal?" Count Chocula and Cocoa Krispies). Some of the questions came from people who seemed intimately familiar with his campaign operation, including Parley from Utah, who asked Romney if he could remind the audience about a series of upcoming fundraisers. Another asked if the nation wanted "Hillarycare," Romney's common description of the health care plans favored by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. As Romney said earlier in the day, he favors the program he enacted in Massachusetts that calls for expanding the nation's private health care system — a feature of Clinton's plan.