Is Mitt a good fit?

Mitt Romney smiled when he was asked Friday if Americans would find him odd because he belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"I'm odd," he joked, "but not because of my religion."

At times during his 45-minute meeting with the Review-Journal's editorial board, Romney seemed like a presidential candidate who could not only wrest the Republican nomination from a more liberal candidate, but also like someone who could successfully appeal to independents.

He'd lobby hard for immigration reform that would actually create a system whereby employers would know they're hiring a legitimately documented worker and be fined if they put illegal immigrants on the payroll. He has a health care plan that he says would help states cover most uninsured Americans.

Then the oddities surfaced.

He's against the heavy hand of excessive federal regulation, but supports a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

He's all for a line-item veto to rein in excessive spending and opposes new taxes, but he would implement a "middle class" tax relief plan that would drain $32 billion from the treasury.

Romney no doubt knows the economy. Not only does he have 25 years of experience in the private sector, he's run the Olympics and governed a state while working with a Democratic-dominated legislature.

But he still has no idea, really, what the middle class even is.

His tax plan would allow households with annual incomes of $200,000 or less to save tax-free -- no taxes on interest, dividends or capital gains.

"It's a recognition that middle-income Americans need relief, and that our economy needs capital," Romney said. "Most people in that income bracket and less are not saving that much."

This is classic Reagan economics. Take $32 billion out of the government's hands and let it trickle down to make the economy robust.

On the other side of the aisle, many Democrats believe taxes should be raised on those earning $200,000 or more. That's roughly 5 percent of the population.

Democrats call these people "the rich."

If your issue is Iraq, Romney sounds critical of the Bush administration. He rattled off a litany of problems in the years after Saddam Hussein fell. We were "underprepared, underplanned, understaffed, undermanaged."

Makes sense for a guy who believes in staying the Bush course. The surge is working. No timeline for withdrawal.

Romney also did the apologist thing. In answer to a question about how he can justify his position on Iraq when a majority of Americans view it differently, Romney said the president needs to be the "educator in chief."

"I think without question the administration was surprised that things were not going as well as they thought they would following the collapse of Saddam Hussein," Romney said. "I don't imagine we'd have had the arrival on the aircraft carrier or that the secretary of defense would say we just have a few dead-enders to sweep up."

In other words, "mission accomplished" didn't properly prepare Americans for the bad news.

The real threat is having Iraq turn into a safe haven for al-Qaida, he argued.

Like Afghanistan is again? Like Pakistan has always been?

Odd, indeed.

Romney did finally give the editorial board a classic "sound science"-type answer on the Yucca Mountain Project, but took it far enough to make the pro-dump folks in Lincoln and Nye counties stay with him.

"We do need to invest a substantially greater amount in looking for ways to reprocess nuclear fuel," he said. "At the same time, we do not have the federal government impose on the people of Nevada a solution that does not work for Nevada." Romney said he "would not take action that would in any way put at risk the safety or security of the people of Nevada or their economy."

He said that as governor of Massachusetts, he spoke with former Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn often about the issue. When asked if he'd shut the dump down, Romney offered a "state's rights" answer with a curious twist.

"I'll wait to see what the results of the study are and what the people of Nevada are going to say," Romney said. "There are ways to make people think that something is a good idea. One is to compensate them."

He noted there's a long tradition in Western states of crafting deals among themselves, particularly when it comes to water use.

What the heck. Sen. John McCain's for the dump and former Gov. Robert List, who is now a pro-dump lobbyist, has endorsed Rudy Giuliani. Romney has to get his pro-Yucca bona fides in somehow. The compensation angle may be odd, but it suits Romney to a T.

Contact Erin Neff at eneff@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2906.