Boehner predicts voters in Nov. will be ‘enthusiastic’ about backing Romney

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Tuesday that Americans nationwide would be “enthusiastic” about backing Mitt Romney in November, clarifying an earlier remark that most voters probably wouldn’t “fall in love” with the presumptive Republican nominee.

“Listen, I’m going to be enthusiastic about voting for Gov. Romney in November, and I think the American people will be enthusiastic about voting for Gov. Romney in November,” Boehner told reporters after a closed-door House GOP conference meeting.

At a fundraiser last month in West Virginia, the Speaker told attendees that aside from “friends, relatives and fellow Mormons,” the American people “probably aren’t going to fall in love with Mitt Romney,” Roll Call reported.

“I’ll tell you this: 95 percent of the people that show up to vote in November are going to show up in that voting booth, and they are going to vote for or against Barack Obama.” 

On Tuesday, Boehner explained those comments.

“The point I was trying to make was very simply this,” he said. “The election this November is going to be a referendum on the president’s failed economic policies.”

Boehner has campaigned with Romney in his home state of Ohio, and officials in both camps say the two men have a good relationship.

---