Romney: Send Ernst, ‘Iowa way’ to Washington

CEDAR RAPIDS - Other than one brief 'run, Mitt, run” chant, Joni Ernst's Monday morning campaign rally with 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney was all about her.

'I want to see common sense Iowa principles working in Washington (and) that's why we need Joni Ernst in Washington,” the former Massachusetts governor told more than 200 people who packed a meeting room at the Marriott Hotel in Cedar Rapids.

'The Washington way has go to end. We've got to get the Iowa way in power,” Romney said, adding that Ernst, a state senator from Red Oak, will 'get the Iowa way ... the common sense way in Washington.”

Romney, who lost Iowa to President Barack Obama by a 52 to 46 percent margin, said the president's handling of domestic policy - failure to enact trade policies that would have helped farmers, to improve schools, reduce poverty and income inequality - were matched by his lack of leadership on foreign policy.

Ernst built on that theme as she sought to tie her opponent, U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, to the unpopular commander-in-chief.

Braley, she said, 'has supported every single one of those failed policies.”

Romney avoided any mention of speculation that he will run for president again in 2016, but that possibility wasn't lost on Ernst or the crowd.

'If his address was 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue I would sleep a lot better,” Sen. Tim Kapucian, R-Keystone, said in his introduction of Romney.

Ernst was asked about an Iowa Poll that found Romney is the only Republican who would beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical head-to-head race.

'I have supported Gov. Romney in past election cycles,” she said. 'I can't say I whether I would support him going forward, but he is a brilliant man.

'I would encourage him to run if that's the way his family and heart lead him to go,” Ernst said.

Others said it's too early to think about who might be the GOP nominee in 2016, but said they would consider Romney if he ran again.

'He hasn't given any indication that he will (run), but I wish he would,” said Freda Weber of Cedar Rapids. 'He would make a great president.”

Romney wouldn't be the first choice for Dan Martinek of Cedar Rapids, but he supported him in 2012 and wouldn't rule out backing him again.

His wife, Sue, wishes Romney was in the Oval Office now.

'It must be frustrating for him to watch how things have developed,” she said. 'He would be doing better with the budget issues. The nation's finances are out of control.”

And Joni Scotter of Marion, who got a shout out from Romney for her work on his 2012 campaign, said he hasn't given her any indication whether he will run.

'He told me after the election he wouldn't run again,” she said, 'but you know, sometimes people change their mind.

'I'm rooting for him,” Scotter said. 'I told him I would be there for him.”