Jan. 24 Republican debate transcript

Russert: What does that mean?

Romney: I just think that we want to have a president, not a whole -- a team of husband and wife thinking that they're going to run the country. And instead, you want to elect a president.

But I'm not going to run on the basis of Bill Clinton. If Hillary Clinton is the nominee, it's going to be Hillary Clinton. It's going to be her positions and her postures on a whole series of issues. And frankly, she is so out of step with the American people on everything from taxes -- she wants to raise taxes.

She has a plan for health care. Her health care plan, quite simply, is one which says, look, we're going to give health insurance to everybody by the government. It's going to cost $110 billion more, every single year, $1 trillion plus dollars over 10 years.

Her approach to the war in Iraq -- just get out as fast as you can. Just don't even think about the sacrifices that have been made, or the need to keep Al Qaida from establishing safe havens.

She's exactly what's wrong in Washington. I said before Washington is broken. She is Washington to the core. She's been there too long. Bill Clinton has been there too long.

The last thing America needs is sending the Clintons back to Washington.

Look, sending the same people back to Washington expecting a different result is not going to get America on track. And I'm going to make sure that we strengthen this country and we do it the old- fashioned Republican way, the Ronald Reagan way of pulling together economic conservatives, social conservatives and foreign policy, national defense conservatives.

I speak to those three groups. I will pull them together. That's how we'll win the election and that's also how we're going to keep the country strong and vibrant.

Russert: Another quick question. People observing this race in Florida have been somewhat amazed by the number of television ads you've been running. Can you tell the voters of Florida and Republicans across the country how much of your own money have you spent on this race so far?

Romney: In Florida? We'll report that on the 31st of January, as required by law, and probably not a minute earlier. You'll just have to wait, Tim.

Russert: But why not tell the voters of Florida and across the country how much of your own wealth you're spending, so they can make a judgment and factor that into their own decision?

Romney: Well, I'm not concerned about the voters. I'm much more concerned about the other guys on this stage. And we have some competitive information we make sure that we use for our own benefit.

But I can tell you this: I've raised more money than any other Republican in this race -- raised more. Friends of mine have come together, people I knew in high school and helped raised money for me.

So I've raised more money, and I've also made a very substantial contribution. Not as much, by the way, as Jon Corzine did to become governor of New Jersey. Not as much as Steve Forbes did when he ran back some years ago. Certainly not as much as Mayor Bloomberg did in his race. But I made a substantial contribution.

I can't imagine having gone to my friends and asked them to do what they've done, going out and raising money in my behalf, without saying I'm going to put some of my contribution behind this effort as well. Because frankly, I think it's important.

And one thing is real clear: Given the contribution I made in this race, I know I owe no one anything. I don't have some group there that I have a special obligation to that raised money for me. I am by far the biggest contributor to my own campaign, and people can count on the fact that there's nobody that can call me and say, hey, look, you owe me. Because they don't.

I'm in this race because I want to make a difference for America.

Russert: Governor (inaudible) from criticism that you're trying to buy the state of Florida or buy the nomination?

Romney: You know, this is always raised any time someone makes a contribution to their own campaign. And the answer is, I care very deeply about this. I've been successful in life, enough to be able to save enough money. And I'm using that money in a campaign for presidency to try and change this country.

I'm concerned about the America my kids will inherit and their kids will inherit, and the kids of the entire nation will inherit. And I want to make sure that we have a strong and vibrant nation. And I happen to think that at a time like this, we need someone whose life has been in the private sector, who knows how America works, not just how Washington works, but how America works. And for that reason, I'm giving it my all.