http://www.newsmax.com/PrintTemplate.aspx/?nodeid=715940Newsmax
Mitt Romney on the 'Failure' of Political Leaders: 'We're Just Mad as Hell'
Wednesday, February 24, 2016 03:41 PM
By: Cathy Burke
Washington and its political leaders have failed Americans, and voters are "mad as hell" about it, Mitt Romney says of the unconventional 2016 White House race.
In an appearance at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., the 2012 GOP presidential nominee said he understands how voters' exasperation is fueling the dominance of non-traditional candidates, the Washington Post reports.
"Certainly part of what is behind the energy and the passion for Donald Trump on the Republican side and [Vermont Sen.] Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side is the frustration and anger people feel in this country," Romney said, the Post reports.
Their success, he added, is a "projection on them by the American public that they're at least going to do something. They're going to make something happen."
But if either win their party's nomination, it could just as well trigger a third-party bid by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, he said, the Post reports.
"He'd probably be getting in," Romney said. "I think he would recognize that there is a chance for a centrist candidate."
In his speech, Romney urged GOP leaders to take on more of the "major challenges" the nation faces.
"We're just mad as hell and won't take it anymore," Romney said of voters' frustration with "the failure of current political leaders to actually tackle major challenges, or to try at least, or to go out with proposals."
"Think for a moment about the major challenges you believe this country faces and tick them off in your mind and ask, 'Are we making any real progress on any of them?'" he said.
Romney was mum on making an endorsement, saying "I probably will at some point," the Post reports.
"Before I would endorse somebody, I'd want to see their past taxes," he said, the Post reports. "We've got [Texas Sen. Ted] Cruz, [Florida Sen. Marco] Rubio and Trump — haven't released their tax returns. And I'd like to know, you know, have they paid taxes? How much money they made. So we haven't seen that yet. I'd like to see that."
