Fox NewsEdge iPump -- Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney carried the Republican banner. He says that on election night he knew in his heart that he was going to win the presidency. That is until he saw Florida.
We now know, that it wasn't until 8 or 9 o'clock on election night that Mitt Romney realized he would not be moving into the white house as America's 45th president.
"I think we were convinced that we would win. We saw that the polls were very close, but we knew that the energy and passion was with our voters and my heart said we were going to win," said Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts.
The former GOP nominee believes incumbency and the popularity of ObamaCare propelled President Obama to re-election. He thinks that lately, the president has approached battles over sequestration and immigration by campaigning, instead of leading.
"I wish I were there. It kills me not to be there, not to be in the White House doing what needs to be done. The president is the leader of the nation. The president brings people together, does the deals, does the trades, knocks the heads together, the president leads. And I don't see that kind of leadership happening right now," said Romney.
The Romney's now have 20 grandkids and fill their days with charity work and family time. But Ann says. The abrupt end to the campaign was difficult.
"Oh, for me, yeah, I cried. When you pour that much of your life and energy and passion into something and you're disappointed by the outcome, it's sad. It's very hard," said Ann Romney, Mitt Romney's wife.
Superstorm Sandy essentially stopped Romney's campaign in its tracks. He admits it impacted his aggressiveness on the campaign trail. He does not fault one of his top surrogates, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for praising President Obama's response to the storm just days before the election.
"I'm not going to worry about how Chris was doing what he thought was best for the people of his state. I lost my election because of my campaign, not because of what anyone else did," said Romney.
Even though he lost, Romney says he still has some ideas about how to help the GOP in the future. Including figuring out a way to get the word out to minority voters that Republican policies can make their lives better.
