"Freedom is in the balance," he said.
Asked about politics, Romney compared it to golf. "I love politics. You forget all the bad strokes and remember all the good ones," he joked.
He said he expected former "Senator" Hillary Clinton to be the Democratic presidential candidate in 2016 and thought she would be formidable and serious. However, he added that the combination of economic stagnation and the bungled implementation of Obamacare would leave the American public hungry for change, tipping the scales in favor of her likely GOP opponent. However, he also expected the problems of Obamacare's clumsy rollout to be solved by then, though bad memories may still linger.
Questioned on whom he would like to see as the Republican nominee, Romney coyly responded, "My wife Ann." Pressed further, he cited current and former governors like Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and John Kasich, and Rep. Paul Ryan, conspicuously omitting any senators.
As the former chairman of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Romney said that the Olympics were about the young athletes and politics should not enter the decision of where they are located, even if Russian president Vladimir Putin "is a thug." He also said, "I'd take my family to Sochi, but I'd be very careful."
On a more serious note, Romney expressed concerns about the rise of China and that nation's desire to flex its muscles. By 2020, China's navy will be bigger than America's and it will all be concentrated in the South and East China Seas, through which 50 percent of the world's trade travels. "The South China and East China Seas are the world's, not China's," he said.
When a great nation emerges from a period during which it perceives it has been held back by outsiders, it often becomes increasingly assertive and demanding. The reason that the U.S. needs to maintain a strong military is to prevent future wars, not to start them, Romney explained.