President Obama does not believe that the Mitt Romney will be able to escape the conservative rhetoric and policies he pushed during the primary season, he told Rolling Stone in an interview in early April. Without referring to Romney by name — the interview was before Santorum dropped out and Romney became the presumptive nominee — Obama said: “I don’t think that their nominee is going to be able to suddenly say, ‘Everything I’ve said for the last six months, I didn’t mean.'” Obama also intoned that he would hold his opponent to his positions: “I’m assuming that he meant it. When you’re running for president, people are paying attention to what you’re saying.”
From the interview:
Given all that, what do you think the general election is going to look like, and what do you think of Mitt Romney?
I think the general election will be as sharp a contrast between the two parties as we’ve seen in a generation. You have a Republican Party, and a presumptive Republican nominee, that believes in drastically rolling back environmental regulations, that believes in drastically rolling back collective-bargaining rights, that believes in an approach to deficit reduction in which taxes are cut further for the wealthiest Americans, and spending cuts are entirely borne by things like education or basic research or care for the vulnerable. All this will be presumably written into their platform and reflected in their convention. I don’t think that their nominee is going to be able to suddenly say, “Everything I’ve said for the last six months, I didn’t mean.” I’m assuming that he meant it. When you’re running for president, people are paying attention to what you’re saying.
