EXCLUSIVE: Mitt Romney Talks Black Unemployment, Voters and Entrepreneurs

With the debates over, the election is heading into the homestretch as President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney seek to convince Americans that they have the best plan to advance the nation. Among the big issues of this campaign has been unemployment, small business and diversity. I gained the opportunity to interview Republican nominee Mitt Romney about his “Believe in America” platform promoting limited government and tax reform.

Although polls show that his support from African Americans is almost nil, the former Massachusetts governor and ex-CEO of private equity firm Bain Capital has engaged in some activities to reach out to African American voters through his appearance at this year’s NAACP convention, the release of a targeted campaign commercial featuring African American endorsers, installation of a black political advisory group and recruitment of high-profile GOP operative and conservative pundit Tara Wall as a senior communications adviser to advance his message.

The following are excerpts from that session:

Your platform advocates immediately using executive orders to strengthen the economy. What specific measures would you put in place for small business?
I talk to small business people across the country. Each has a different area of concern as it relates to government involvement in their enterprise. For some, regulation is crushing them. For others, they talk about taxation. Mine takes a very holistic approach to say, “How do I make small business have the support of our governmental structure? What do I do to help small business simply?” One, I’m going to put a hold on Obama era regulations, review them, and eliminate those that are killing jobs and crushing small businesses.

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