Romney downplays senators' experience

WASHINGTON — Republican Mitt Romney, a former one-term governor with a thin foreign-policy resume, argued Wednesday that the Senate tenures of his top Democratic presidential rivals don't automatically make them qualified to address world affairs.

"Sitting on committees in Washington does not guarantee that someone has the skills to solve the problems on the international stage," Romney told The Associated Press in a telephone interview while campaigning in Midland, Texas.

He suggested that his comments did not apply to GOP opponent John McCain, a four-term Arizona senator who Romney said has "led in many ways," including his service in the Navy. Rather, he singled out Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.

"In those three cases, you have people who have never really led or managed a substantial enterprise. They learned how to speak well and they learned how to ask good questions at hearings and how to receive briefings. But the role of being a leader and manager of a state, of a city, of an Olympics, of a business, of an enterprise is entirely different than sitting in a hearing chair," said Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, chief executive of a consulting firm and head of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

He defended his own ability to handle foreign policy matters, saying he's traveled to more than 40 countries and done business in more than 20. He said "people who are able to solve problems are people who have the skill of leadership" and argued that he has a three-decade record of making "difficult decisions well."

"If you look over the history of this country, great governors, not great senators, have been able to make a huge difference in foreign policy and in conflict," Romney said.

Responded Clinton spokesman Phil Singer: "Considering his penchant for flip-flopping, he'll be touting Senator Clinton's experience tomorrow."

Edwards spokeswoman Colleen Murray said that Edwards, unlike Romney, "understands that America deserves real change, and when president, that's exactly what he'll deliver."

Romney also denounced a Web site that was bitingly critical of GOP rival Fred Thompson's personal life and political career, calling it "juvenile and offensive."

"There's no place in politics for those kind of hijinks," Romney said.