When Mitt Romney Didn't Think Corporations Were People

Mitt Romney has defended saying "Corporations are people my friend" at the Iowa State Fair, a gaffe that he turned into a defense of capitalism. In 2003, however, when he delivered the keynote address at the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation’s first IdeasStream Symposium, he assured his audience that he didn't share other Republicans' enthusiasm for corporations. Update: The extended clip, in which Romney places himself in between standard Republican and Democratic views, is here.

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"There are some, if you will, classical Republicans, and I don't want to be political here. The classical Republican approach is to say you know what makes America so great is our great corporations. And if we just clear the decks so that corporations can be more successful and give them more money, and make it easier for them to succeed. Well, then we will do even better on the world stage. I don't happen to subscribe to that traditional Republican caricature."

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