Jim Cole / AP Photo
Mitt Romney kicked off his presidential campaign Thursday with a speech promising to “bring this country back” from the economic brink. Speaking in New Hampshire, where he polls ahead of the GOP pack, he attacked President Obama for his handling of the economic crisis and accused him of taking inspiration from Europe. In contrast to Obama, Romney said he'd use his campaign to stick up for small government and the free market. He focused on his career in business, but he touched briefly on his tenure as governor of Massachusetts and the health-care-reform bill he passed there. “The state was giving away over a billion dollars in free health care, much of it to people who could have paid something but were gaming the system,” Romney said. “You won’t be surprised that a lot of Democrats thought we should be giving away even more.” The health-care bill is unpopular with many Republicans, but Romney nevertheless enters the 2012 presidential race as a frontrunner nationally.