Romney's wife opens up on campaign issues

As Mitt Romney runs for president, his wife Ann has been his constant but mostly silent partner, rarely offering more than a few measured words to reporters.

But this week, Ann Romney delved into some of the most private and charged issues facing her husband's campaign.

In an extensive and surprisingly frank interview with ABC News, she described her battle with multiple sclerosis, saying her husband will forge ahead with his pursuit of the presidency, even if her health declines.

She also said she wants him to give a speech directly addressing his relationship to the Mormon Church and disclosed that she did not want him to run for governor in 2002, when the couple was on a high after the successful Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

"It was just this euphoric feeling, and I did not want to step immediately into something that is so negative, with the campaign, after that," Ann Romney told Kate Snow during an interview that aired Wednesday on "Good Morning America."

"I wanted to take a breath; I wanted to enjoy what we'd done," she said.

She also said she was troubled by the prevalence of misperceptions about Mormons. For example, she lamented the HBO show "Big Love," about a Mormon polygamist, calling it "unfortunate."

As someone raised in the Episcopal Church, she said, she understands apprehension about Mormonism. She had some reservations , too, before she learned more about the faith, she said. "I've been both places."

There is "a lot of misunderstanding and misperceptions about the church, and that's unfortunate," she said. "There's a lot that needs to be done to educate people about it and to have an understanding that basically we share the same values as probably most faiths."

The former Ann Davies met Mitt Romney at a party in 1965, when he was 18 and she was 15. Married in 1969, they have five sons and 10 grandchildren.

On the campaign trail, he calls her "my sweetheart," and she is often by his side, as she was when he formally announced his bid for the White House in Michigan this week.

Ann Romney, 57, told Snow how her conversion to Mormonism grew out of questions she began asking Mitt Romney when they were dating.

"I started first to ask him, you know, 'What do Mormons believe?' when I was, I think, a sophomore in high school," she said. "And he left and went to Stanford for a year and then off for 2 1/2 years to serve a mission for his church in France. And during that time, Mitt's father was wonderful and took me to church on Sundays occasionally. And I came to that on my own. It was a good thing that I did."

She said she wants her husband to give a speech about Mormonism like the one John F. Kennedy gave about the Roman Catholic Church in 1960. A recent Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll indicated that 35 percent of Americans say they would not vote for a Mormon for president.

"We'll see whether his staff and whether my husband comes to that same conclusion, and I'm actually anxious for that to happen," she said.

"Certainly if people look at our heart and soul, they will understand that we're in this race to make a difference and to help and that we share the values of most Americans."

Discussing multiple sclerosis, which she was diagnosed with in 1998, Ann Romney said she was weak for several years and felt "completely crushed."

"I was not an example of strength and courage when I was going through it," she said. "I was pretty frightened."

These says, she said, "I'm feeling well. . . . My health is good." She credited yoga, Pilates, reflexology, and acupuncture, as well as a diet low in sugar and white flour. She also loves horses and tries to ride every day, she said.

She said she shares her husband's opposition to embryonic stem cell research, even though some scientists believe it could lead to a cure for multiple sclerosis.

"It is one of those life questions," she said. "Is my life more important than a child's, another child's life, and I see it as a life that they would be experimenting on."

She said the family has decided that even if her health worsens, her husband will not stop campaigning for the White House.

"We decided that once we crossed that threshold, that he was going forward, that he was making a commitment," she said. She added, "That was a commitment that I made him promise to make."

On camera, Ann Romney appeared relaxed, at times smiling and laughing.

She acknowledged, however, that she dislikes the print media, especially for a story that depicted her as a prim, perfect Stepford wife during her husband's unsuccessful run for the US Senate in 1994.

"That really did make me angry," she said.

And when Snow asked if her husband ever swears, she said, "On occasion," adding with a laugh, "Probably when that article came out."

"He has moments, and I do, too," she said.

Snow said, "You're human."

Ann Romney smiled: "Yep."

Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com.