Romney makes lip smacking promises to the NAACP

With much smacking of his lips, Romney vows to ‘make things better in the African-American community’...

Making the most prominent appearance in front of a largely black audience of his presidential campaign, Mitt Romney criticized President Obama’s record on education and the economy at the NAACP’s national convention and boldly declared he was the candidate who represented the “real, enduring best interest of African-American families.”  “If you want a president who will make things better in the African-American community, you are looking at him,” Romney said, causing many in crowd to boo.

The mood in the room was tense. Most of Romney’s 25-minute speech was greeted with silence and muted applause by the largely pro-Obama crowd. But the Republican candidate drew boos several times from the audience of more than 1,000, the loudest when he declared his plans to repeal “Obamacare,” the term he used to describe the national health care law passed by the president.

In front of a crowd that was almost entirely black, Romney emphasized he wanted to campaign in front of all Americans, even if he is unlikely to win their votes.

Romney’s remarks were much different than those he gives in front of largely-white crowds, as he pointedly emphasized his education reform ideas, which make it easier for students to attend charter and private schools. He noted that millions of African-American children attend low-performing schools. And he reeled off data to illustrate the economic challenges African-Americans are facing.

In his speech, Romney praised the NAACP as an organization and pledged to attend the convention next year if he is elected president. He quoted Martin Luther King, Jr and Frederick Douglas and invoked his father George, who marched for civil rights and pushed anti-discrimination legislation as governor of Michigan in the 1960′s. Source