Mitt Romney: Obama 'naive at best' on global threats, ISIS

STARKVILLE -- Mitt Romney started his speech Wednesday night at Mississippi State sounding more like a commencement speaker than a political candidate.

Romney's opening was a soft mixture of self-deprecation about his college days – "I was an English major, which meant I had no idea what I would do for a living" – and a recounting of some of the human lessons he learned during the 2012 presidential election.

"I came away from my campaign more optimistic about the future of the country," he said. "I met people from across the nation, people who don't make the nightly news, but people who make daily innovations and discoveries that propel our economy and provide for our future."

That future will require heroes like the ones Romney encountered on the trail – an opposition leader from Poland, Cardinal Dolan, Billy Graham, a charter school principal in Philadelphia.

"You don't have to be larger than life to be a hero, just larger than yourself," Romney said. "I see heroes every day – scout masters, teachers, missionaries, campaign volunteers, parents. I hope you will choose to be a hero because we need a lot more of them."

Romney was loose throughout the hour-long presentation, his tone less that of the head of a large venture capitalist firm and more a guy perfectly willing to laugh at himself. He told the story of booking a massage at a San Francisco Marriott to loosen a back tightened by the rigors of a presidential campaign. "After the massage, the masseuse, obviously unaware of my political ambitions, remarked to my assistant (Mississippi native Garrett Jackson), 'Mr. Romney has strong legs; he is a dancer, is he not?'"

Romney's tone changed about halfway through his appearance, part of the school's Global Lecture Series, before more than 1,000 people in Lee Hall's Bettersworth Auditorium.

The former Republican presidential nominee went after the Obama administration and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton – a possible opponent in next year's campaign – on foreign and economic policy.

"We need to make the world a safer place," Romney said. "The president's dismissal of real global threats in his State of the Union address was naïve at best and deceptive at worst. ISIS represents a new level of threat given its oil revenues, vast territory and ability to recruit even in the West. I don't know how the president expects to defeat the jihadists if he won't even call them what they are."

Obama has made a poor decision not to meet with Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, invited to speak to Congress by Speaker John Boehner, Romney said during a question and answer session moderated by former lieutenant governor Amy Tuck.

"Israel is the best friend we have in the Middle East," Romney said. "They deserve to be treated that way."

He saved some arrows for Clinton. "How can Secretary Clinton provide opportunity for all if she doesn't know where jobs come from in the first place?"

Contact Clay Chandler at (601) 961-7264 or cchandler@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @claychand on Twitter.