Mitt Romney offered a rather surprising admission on Sunday's Meet the Press: Maybe parts of Obamacare aren't so bad after all.
"Of course there are a number of things that I like in health care reform that I'm going to put in place," said the Republican presidential nominee, who has repeatedly and aggressively vowed to repeal the president's healthcare plan while campaigning.
Romney vowed to uphold two popular pillars of the plan, including making sure those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage and allowing young Americans to stay on their parents' health insurance.
"I say we’re going to replace Obamacare. And I’m replacing it with my own plan," Romney said. "And even in Massachusetts when I was governor, our plan there deals with pre-existing conditions and with young people." Romney also praised former President Bill Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention last week in Charlotte, implying that the former president delivered a better address than President Obama.
"I think he really did elevate the Democrat convention in a lot of ways," Romney said. "And frankly the contrast may not have been as attractive as Barack Obama might have preferred if he were choosing who'd go before him and who'd go after him."
Romney also defended his decision to not acknowledge the war in Afghanistan during his convention speech. The U.S. troops, he said, "know my commitment."
He pointed to remarks he gave the day before his convention while addressing to the American Legion. "I have some differences on policy with the president. I happen to think those are more important than what word I mention in each speech," he said.
During the interview, Romney also commented on Clint Eastwood's eyebrow raising address at the RNC, in which the 82-year-old actor conversed with an empty chair that was meant to represent President Obama.
He said the speech made him laugh and was "a great thrill."
“You don't expect to have a guy like Clint Eastwood get up and, you know, read some speech off a teleprompter like a politician,” Romney said. “You expect him to speak from the heart, and that's exactly what he did.”