NAME: Mitt Romney

AGE: 60

STATE: Massachusetts

OCCUPATION: Entrepreneur, venture capitalist

EXPERIENCE: former Massachusetts governor, 2003-2007; president and CEO of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics Organizing Committee

FAMILY: Wife, Ann; five sons: Tagg, Matt, Josh, Craig and Ben

WHERE ROMNEY STANDS

ABORTION: Anti-abortion.

IRAQ WAR: Supported the Iraq invasion, but has said the post-invasion period was mismanaged. Supported the troop surge and opposes plans to set a quick timetable for withdrawing troops. Also wants to expand the size of the military by 100,000 troops, and increase defense spending to at least 4 percent of the gross domestic product.

ECONOMY: Pledges to establish spending limits, re-examine and evaluate all federal spending programs, working with Congress to address the budget crisis. Supports a zero tax on capital gains for middle-income citizens. Calls for bipartisan leadership to reform Social Security and Medicare. Supports private savings accounts as an alternative to extending the retirement age.

HEALTH CARE: Proposes a "free market, federalist" approach to providing health insurance. Pledges to deregulate the state markets, eliminating cumbersome insurance regulations that drive costs up and providers out of the market. Would make all health care expenses tax deductible. Would use some of the money spent on providing free care for the uninsured to instead help the needy buy private insurance. Supports reforming the medical liability system. Pledges to give states flexibility in spending Medicaid dollars.

IMMIGRATION: Supports building a physical and technological fence along the Southern border and securing other points of entry. Would implement an enforceable employer verification system, issuing biometrically enabled, tamper proof cards to noncitizens and creating a national database for noncitizens. Opposes giving amnesty to illegal immigrants. Wants to punish sanctuary cities by cutting back federal funding. Crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants. Encourages legal immigration by streamlining the system to recruit and retain skilled workers.

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EDUCATION: Supports No Child Left Behind, but wants to improve it by giving states that meet or exceed testing requirements flexibility in measuring student performance. Proposes a federal home schooling tax credit to defray the cost of supplies. Would focus efforts in fields like math and science, while promoting innovative approaches like charter schools and public-private partnerships. In favor of awarding four-year scholarships to students who perform at top levels. Promotes abstinence education in public schools.

SOMETHING VOTERS MAY NOT KNOW: Has said one of his favorite novels is "Battlefield Earth," written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

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-Crystal Bozek