Romney takes aim at single mothers

By Michael Levenson and Peter S. Canellos, Globe Staff

CLINTON, Iowa -- Mitt Romney offered a preview of his closely watched speech Friday before a summit of Christian conservative leaders in Washington. The former governor said he planned to take aim at the problem of single motherhood.

"Number one on my list is we have to teach our kids that before they have babies, they should get married," Romney said to applause before a crowd of supporters at a hotel in Clinton. "Marriage comes first."

Later in the speech, while talking about healthcare to the largely rural crowd, he praised Bill Cosby's message of personal responsibility, saying to thunderous applause, "Hats off to Bill Cosby... At least where I spent the last 30 years in Massachusetts, boy, if you could have more married couples in the inner city, wouldn't it be a huge plus for our kids?"

Romney -- who is leading in the polls in Iowa, which plans its first-in-the-nation caucus on Jan. 3 -- picked up the theme again at a stop in Davenport.

Talking about government waste, he noted the federal government has 13 teen pregnancy prevention programs -- and quipped that they must not be working. Later, he ridiculed Hillary Clinton’s now-abandoned proposal to give $5,000 to every baby "regardless of whether they have a mom and dad or not..."