Ross Perot endorses Mitt Romney
Billionaire former presidential candidate H. Ross Perot announced his support of Mitt Romney Tuesday, saying voters are faced with "a serious choice."
"We can't afford four more years in which national debt mushrooms out of control, our government grows, and our military is weakened," Perot wrote in an op-ed in the Des Moines Register.
"For the past four years, we have squandered one opportunity after the next to turn things around. The longer we delay acting, the steeper the price we will have to pay," he continued.
"As a president, [Romney] would do what this administration has been unable to do, which is reform our federal government, pare it back, and -- most critically -- keep it from acting as a brake on economic growth."
Although Romney and Perot diverge on multiple issues, including over abortion and trade, Perot backed Romney during his 2008 presidential bid as well.
Perot's two presidential bids centered around the national debt and reducing government spending. During his first presidential bid in 1992, he won 19 percent of the vote against Bill Clinton and then-President George H.W. Bush in his self-financed run as an independent. He only pulled in 8 percent in his second run in 1996.
Meantime, one of Mitt Romney's father's political aides, Walter De Vries, wrote a scathing letter to journalists, saying that Mitt Romney is not as principled as his father, George Romney. De Vries who worked for George Romney in the 1960s, while he was governor of Michigan and before his 1968 presidential run said that Mitt Romney's changing political positions are "erratic and startling."
"While it seems that Mitt would say and do anything to close a deal - or an election," he wrote, according to The New York Times, "George Romney's strength as a politician and public officeholder was his ability and determination to develop and hold consistent policy positions over his life."
He said Mitt Romney's campaign is "a far cry from the kind of campaign and conduct, as a public servant, I saw during the seven years I worked in George Romney's campaigns and served him as governor."
De Vries wrote the scathing critique of Romney in a 700-word essay, which he told The Times that it is the outline of a book.
"George would never have been seen with the likes of Sheldon Adelson or Donald Trump," De Vries added, referring to the wealthy casino mogul and the entrepreneur and reality TV show host.
De Vries said he voted for President Obama in 2008 and will again.